The Final Adventure
by lightaboveallelse
Summary: The Digidestined from Adventure 01 and 02 are brought back to the Digital World 5 years after MaloMyotismon is defeated for their final showdown with the forces of Darkness. There they encounter old enemies, a new ally, and get ready to save the Digital World. Pairings: MattxSora, MimixJoe, KarixTK, YoleixKen, and Taix?
1. Chapter 1

So this is just a story that's been playing in my head since I binged on Digimon a while ago! It's based a few years after Adventure 02, and basically disregard the epilogue of that because I had some MAJOR issues with it. There's also a new Digidestined I created on my own, and besides her and her Digimon I own nothing of Digimon, or the characters. Sadly. This does have some romance including: JoexMimi, SoraxMatt, KarixTK, YoleixxKen, and TaixStella (new character!) Enjoy, comment, review!

 **CH 1**

It's been 5 years since the Digidestined have defeated Malomyotismon, and 4 years since the portal between worlds had closed, and the digimon had vanished from Earth, presumably having returned to the digital world. The Digidestined were crushed at losing their partners, but as the years passed they had all accepted that, for the time, they were alone. But the worlds were at peace, and they all hoped that someday they would see their partners and the digital world again.

In the past five years, everyone on the team had grown up. Tai (20), Matt (20), Sora (20), Izzy (19), Joe (21), and Mimi (20) had all graduated high school. Tai is studying business on a full soccer scholarship, Matt is hitting it big with his band, and has postponed college for the time. Sora is splitting her time between studying art, coaching tennis, and visiting Matt at his rehearsals; they had started dating a few months after everyone's digimon had vanished, and were inseparable.

Izzy had graduated early, and is working for a tech startup as the head software developer and part-owner; everyone knows he hopes that somehow he will find them a way back into the digital world. Joe is in med school, and spends every second he isn't studying with his girlfriend; Mimi, who is working as a fashion designer (and occasional model) for one of Tokyo's top fashion brands. Everyone was a little surprised at that couple, but as Mimi put it, "Sincerity and reliability go hand in hand! Plus, he's always so sweet and kind, how could I not fall in love with him?" and Joe just smiles when anyone asks about how he got Mimi.

As for the younger digidestined, they are all in high school. Yolei (18) is a senior, looking to study marketing at the same school as Ken (18), which made sense seeing as they have been dating for the past two years. Davis (17), Kari (17), and TK (17) are all juniors, focusing on the future. Davis has finally given up on his crush on Kari, and is focusing on soccer, hoping that he can get into school with an athletic scholarship, versus his mediocre grades. TK is hoping to study writing, and is always scribbling in notebooks, but no one knows what he's writing. Kari wants to be a photojournalist, and works for the school newspaper, the yearbook, and is constantly taking pictures. TK and Kari have become extremely close, nearly inseparable. If you want to find once, you can usually call the other and odds are they're hanging out together. And while everyone expects them to start dating in the near future, they both laugh off the idea because they are "best friends". Cody (16) is a sophomore and is focusing on his Kendo and deciding what schools and majors he is interested in.

Everyone tries to gather together at least once a year, as a reminder of every battle they fought, the friends they lost, and those they gained. This year, they chose to meet in June. With everyone finished with school, it's the perfect time to meet and catch up.

And that is where we begin.

"Hey everyone!" Izzy called as he jogged up to the group sitting under a large oak tree. He was wearing his usual: grey converse, grey jeans, and a navy shirt with his company's name, _Pro-Digeous Tech_ , across the front in white. "Sorry I'm late!".

"Izzy! Don't worry about it! We're still waiting on Matt and Sora!" Tai called. His hair was still big and spiky, and since he started college he had upgraded to wearing blue nikes, midnight blue jeans, and a grey v-neck with a dark blue hoodie unzipped, and he had a tattoo on his right wrist of his crest. Sitting next to him was Davis, who was sporting a similar outfit as in middle school: blue and white striped sneakers, tan cargo shorts, and a blue long sleeve with a orange puffy vest. Ken, who still wore the same black shoes and grey pants as before, but with a pale green untucked polo, waved from across the unfinished circle, then put his arm around back around Yolei. She was still sporting her long lilac hair and glasses, and had switched to tan sandals, a dark purple miniskirt, and a light grey tank top with a white kimono over it all.

"Speaking of Matt and Sora, any idea where your brother is TK? I know he was picking up Sora but wasn't that like an hour ago?" Dressed in light grey slacks and a short sleeved blue button down, Joe turned to TK with a questioning look on his face.

"Yeah, I'm starving! Baby did you pack any rice balls for a snack?" Mimi adjusted her pink flowing skirt and white v-neck and turned to Joe with a smile on her face. He sighed, and dug one out of his backpack, and handed it over. Dressed in black shorts and a beige t-shirt Cody rolled his eyes at the couple.

"I don't know! Geez people, just because I'm related to the guy doesn't mean I know his every thought!" TK announced, throwing his hands in the air in mock frustration. He was still sporting his white bucket hat over his messy blond hair, and was wearing an aqua t-shirt with pale yellow stripes on the sleeves, light grey shorts, and white sneakers. Next to him, Kari pushed her shoulder-length hair behind her ears and giggled into her hands. In lieu of her old tan shorts and pink/white tank top, she now preferred to wear white converse, denim capris, and a dark pink flowing top with cap sleeves. "I mean TK, you were the last to talk to him, we're all just starving!" She said between giggles.

Tk looked at Kari laughing, closed his eyes, and sighed. "Fine. I'll call him. I don't see why you can't Tai, you're only his best friend." As he picked up his phone, Matt and Sora appeared, walking over to the group.

Sporting a blue crop top with a white flower and white capris, Sora had a giant grin on her face, and Matt, while wearing his typical black jeans and black v-neck, was sharing her smile.

"Well, is one of you going to share what that stupid grin is for?" Davis asked, "Because if not, I'd like to start this picnic. The pizza is getting cold!"

Sora and Matt looked at each other and smiled. "Well everyone…. We have a completely reasonable explanation as to why we are late" Matt stated, and turned to Sora. "Care to tell them babe?"

Sora grinned, and held out her left hand while shouting " MATT PROPOSED!" Mimi immediately jumped up and ran over to hug Sora while Joe sighed muttering something about "Great, now i've got to match this" before congratulating Matt after Tai shook his hand.

"Now that everyone's here and we are all so ecstatic about Matt and Sora… CAN WE PLEASE EAT!" Davis announced, already reaching for a slice of pizza. Everyone started laughing, and settled in to eat.

Suddenly, Cody pointed up to the sky and yelled "Look!". Dark clouds were beginning to gather overhead, and lightning began to crackle. Davis couldn't help but snigger at everyone's hair standing up, but before he could get a chuckle out, he vanished. He was followed by Yolei, Ken, Tai, and everyone else. As Davis's uneaten pizza fell to the ground, the clouds vanished, and the June afternoon once again became sunny and calm.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2! Here we (almost) meet a new character, and we learn about what's going on in the Digital World, Enjoy! As before, I sadly do not own any part of Digimon besides the two characters I've created. Enjoy!

Falling from the sky, the Digidestined crashed into the ground in a giant pile, and not a moment passed before the complaints and groans arose.

"Ouch Davis, you're sitting on me…..Matt your elbow is digging into my ribs….Kari for someone so tiny you're making it hard to breathe….Yolei my shoulder isn't the best place for your knee….Joe I love you but you're crushing my liver….Can everyone just get off me, how did I end up at the bottom of this mess…Has anyone seen my glasses...NO JOE...Gatoman sitting on me isn't helping Sora breathe...wait….GATOMON?"

Extracting herself from the pile of teens laying on the forest floor, Kari blinked, and did a double take. Sitting in front of her was her long lost partner, Gatomon! With a smile Kari picked her up and hugged her while the rest of the group untangled and steadied themselves.

"Guys, over here, I found them!" Gatomon called over Kari's shoulder, and before anyone could blink an eye, from the top of the hill all of their digimon partners came sprinting (in some cases, flying) down the hill to their old friends. Mimi gasped, tears in her eyes, while Joe checked his pulse, worried he had a concussion. "Oh Joe, you worry too much" Gomamon said fondly as he ran up with Salmon.\

"Augmon!" Tai knelt down to hug his friend as Gabumon rushed past to Matt with Biyomon flying close behind towards Sora, "How are you buddy?"

"TK! Still sporting that hat?" Patamon flew up and took his usual spot on TK's head while Hawkmon and Wormon rushed past to where Yolei and Ken were waiting, Yolei jumping up and down, while Ken just stood there smiling.

"Veemon! My man! Still the coolest 'mon around?" Davis met Veemon at the base of the hill ready to knock heads while Cody bowed to Armadillomon, who smiled and bowed in return. Tentamon flew up last to Izzy, exclaiming "I love the shirt! I always knew I would be an inspiration to you!"

For several minutes the digidestined and their partner digimon just sat there, talking, catching up, and reminiscing. Then Joe sighed, and adjusted his glasses. "Guys, I hate to break up the reunions, but has anyone else realized where we are? Yes, Davis, I know it's the digital world. But think, everytime we come here it's because the balance between good and evil is disrupted, and we are needed to balance it out. So, who wants to share what the problem is now?"

Gomamon looked at his partner, and shook his head, "Oh Joe, you're still a spoilsport! But you are right….something is going on."

"Yeah!" Gabumon chimed in, "Some new evil digimon has brought Myotismon, Piedmon, Machinedramon, and Devimon back to life, and they are strong. Stronger than they were before. They rarely split up, they work as a team, they've established an army, and they are all working under another digimon, who no one can figure out the identity of. It's bad guys. We had enough trouble defeating each of those digimon on their own, how can we hope to defeat them fighting together? We can't digivole past champion and since Gatomon has her tail ring again, DNA digivolving is impossible."

The group grew silent, pondering their latest troubles. Eventually, Kari broke the silence.

"What will we do? We all know Gabumon is right. Without the crest's abilities, we are screwed. But we gave those up long ago, and I don't think they can be brought back again." She looked down, "I don't want to sound negative, but it's true."

"I'm sure we'll figure something out Kari," Tai said reassuringly, but while the rest of the group nodded he exchanged a worried look with Matt. "For now, let's try to find some shelter. It'll be dark soon and we don't need to be caught out in the open, Agumon, have you or the others found any place to camp around here"

"Remember the hideout trees we used the first time you came to the digiworld? There are tons around here, and they are all connected to make a treehouse of sorts. The only problem is the figure…" Agumon trailed off, to have Biyomon pick up where he left off. "The figure appeared a few months ago, right when the dark digimon reappeared. We don't know if it's a threat, a friend, or just our imagination. We only see it at night, walking around the hideout trees sometimes. We never can get close enough to see what it is, but it also has never attacked us. But we don't know what will happen if we try to go into the trees."

Matt and Tai exchanged looks again, and after a second Tai nodded and said "Well, we might as well head over there. Maybe if we get there before dark this figure won't be a problem."

Walking back up the hill from where the Digimon had come, the group set off. Despite the possibility of a confrontation, the group was cheerful. After four years it was amazing seeing the gang back together, and everyone was happy walking together catching up.

Tai and Agumon were leading the way, with Izzy a short way behind, telling Tentomon how lucky he hadn't taken off his backpack before they vanished, because it had his laptop in it. Sora and Matt were telling Biyomon and Gabumon about their engagement, with Mimi chiming in ideas for the wedding, with Joe sighing behind her while Gomamon and Palmon laughed. Kari and Gatomon were whispering, and Patamon said something to TK, who immediately blushed and waved him away. Wormon, Ken, Yolei and Hawkmon were all walking together, and Davis was laughing at something Veemon said. Cody rounded out the group, just content to walk with Armadillomon.

An hour passed, and just as the sun was lowering in the sky Agumon waved his claws, signaling for the group to stop. Nearby, the group could hear the ocean over the sound of leaves being rustled by wind. Coming to a halt, Agumon pointed to the largest oak tree ahead of them. "That's the entrance to the grouping of trees... Let's see how this goes."

Tai, with Agumon at his side, boldly began walking forwards. Suddenly, a shadowy, morphed figure appeared on one of the lower branches. Tai, not scared, walked forwards, yelling at Agumon to attack using his pepper breath while announcing "I don't know who you are, but it's 24 against one and we fight dirty! Either give up this safety tree or come out into the light and show yourself! This is your only warning!"

 _Pepper Breath!_ Flames shot out of Agumon's mouth towards the figure. Suddenly, the top of the figure separated into 2 beings, and the larger being jumped out of the tree, landing ungracefully in the bushes below, while the smaller one jumped forwards towards the attack, crying out _Tail Lash!_ effectively slicing through Agumon's attack. Landing gracefully, the group was met with a small, midnight blue cat type digimon the size of Gatomon, minus the green gloves on her front paws. The digimon had silver stripes, like a tiger, down her back, silver tipped ears and ice blue eyes. Her tail was twice the length of her body, and split into two towards the end, with each side ending in silver. She wore a silver tail ring that matched Gatomon's. She bared her teeth, showing white fangs, daring anyone to attack her.

" **I am Feymon! I am a rookie digimon with the protectiveness of a tiger. Watch out for my Tail lash attack, it's got a bite you won't forget!"**

Feymon stared at the group, and after noticing the humans and digimon together, and Tai holding his digivice, relaxed, sat back, and began to wash her ears. "So", she purred, "you must be the digidestined. I'm sorry if we scared you before, but unless we saw digimon with humans, we didn't want to take any risks. It's a dangerous digiworld out there, and she can be very cautious. Not that I blame her, it has been 3 months since Gennai found us, and we had no idea when you would show up, or that you would think we were a threat. Plus those random patrols hunting us down have really been cramping our style. "

Sora was the first to get over the shock. "Um, excuse me, Feymon? But who is this 'She' you are referring to? I don't see anyone else "

Feymon stopped washing, looked around and sighed, "She can be shy. It's been months since she came here, and has only gone back to your world for an hour or so, to get supplies. I'll go get her. Please, don't shoot any more flames. She has little faith in others as it is. I think you really freaked her out." She turned around, and walked behind the tree, leaving the group confused over who "she" was.

Tai turned back to Joe, "I wonder if it's some digimon, or someone like Gennai. That would mean some answers, and answers would be much-" Joe butted in, "Tai, it's definitely not a digimon, or Gennai. Turn around."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 is here! Here you meet a new character and get the lowdown on their enemies... Hope everyone is enjoying. And as per usual all I own is my own creations!

Tai looked at Joe's look of shock, mirrored on the rest of the groups faces. He turned around, to see Feymon walking back around the tree, pausing to gesture to someone behind her with her tail.

"Would you just come already? You aren't alone anymore. You don't have to worry," She said, with a hint of sharpness behind her calming tone. "Just come meet them. Stop being so suspicious."

Tai's jaw dropped when he saw the shadowy figure being gestured to hesitantly step out of the shadows and into the light. It became clear that the figure was in fact, a tall, slender girl. She looked to be about 20, and had long, wavy, messy chocolate colored hair lit with amber highlights that fell to the small of her back. Her tanned skin was matched with hazel eyes that were opened wide with surprise. She was dressed in brown laced up boots that hit below her knees, denim jeans ripped at the knees and her left thigh,, a black crop top, and an oversized olive military style jacket. She had a brown hip purse wrapped around her waist, hanging loosely on her right hip with etchings of the moon and stars on it, and a large silver locket hanging around her neck. Most noticeably, was the digivice attached to the strap of her bag.

" _SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT THERE ARE MORE DIGIDESTINED SUMMONED TO THE DIGITAL WORLD OTHER THAN US? AND BEFORE US?"_ Yolei yelled, before a glance from Ken caused her to calm down. "I know there are tons of digidestined out there, but we're the only ones who have been summoned to the digital world… I thought."

Everyone else joined in, bringing up questions and comments, while Tai just stared, TK looked puzzled, and Kari looked at the strange girl with pity. She felt bad for her, suddenly being attacked and then introduced to this large group of people and digimon. _We are a lot to handle at once, and she looks so confused and shocked._ "What's your name?" she asked.

The girl looked shocked that she wasn't being accosted by a one of the loud strangers, and when the rest of the group quieted down, she spoke softly and slowly at first, but quickly sped up her tone. "HI. My name is Stella. And you've clearly met Feymon, my partner. It's about time you turned up. We've been here for months, waiting for the rest of the digidestined. I take it you need a place to stay? Come with me. It'll be dark soon." She abruptly turned on her heel and walked into the tree, vanishing from sight before anyone could introduce themselves.

Feymon glanced at Stella as she vanished, then turned back to the group, grinning. "Sorry about her, she's been alone for a while now, once you get to know her she's actually quite fun! Well come on then! Have we got a surprise for you!"

She stepped to the side and gestured with her tail. The group walked past her, and walked into a cylindrical tube with a large winding staircase in the middle. Feymon jumped to the front and began walking up, followed by Tai, TK, and the rest. There were two platforms off the stairs as they ascended, with hallways extending down, presumably where the lower tree branches were. Once at the top everyone gasped. From the outside it appeared that the trees were just leaves and branches, but it was all an illusion. They had walked into a large circular room, with multiple narrow passageways extending in all directions, matching the hallways they had seen below them.

"The trees are all linked together," Stella said, causing the group to turn to look at her. "It's some sort of protection, each hallway leads to other rooms that are bedrooms, bathrooms and so on. I've been living here, waiting."

"But hasn't anyone been worried about you? If I was gone for that long my mom would have a heart attack. And I'm not even living at home." Sora said.

Stella looked away, and hesitated before responding. "It's just me. No one is around that would worry if I went missing. Besides, the balance in the digital world is off, similar to when the dark masters were around. A month here is barely an hour in the real world. Until the balance is restored this will be the case."

 _Just her? But she can't be older than me… why isn't there someone who would worry if she went missing?_ Tai wondered as she sat down in the center of the room, which was sunken and full of cushions. Feymon joined her, and gestured for the rest to join. Her eyes sparkled, and she looked at Stella. "Would you stop being such a downer? We're no longer alone! And you can tell them the great news!" She turned the group grinning, fangs out. It appeared that the group had encountered a partner situation similar to Joe and Gomamon.

"What news?" Matt asked. He was assuming it was good news, and didn't quite understand why Stella wasn't more excited. Maybe it wasn't good news, and Feymon was just a constantly happy Digimon, like Gomamon?

Stella frowned at Feymon. "Well, I was going to wait since you just got here, but apparently _someone_ is just too excited," she gave Feymon a pointed glance, and then smiled. "But I guess it couldn't hurt? But I just realized that I never got any of your names, except for…. Tai. Mostly because the guy in glasses yelled at you." She laughed.

 _I guess she isn't so stiff and shy after all_ Tai thought. He turned to Stella and gestured to each individual as he spoke. "Well, I'm Tai, and this is Matt, Sora, Izzy, TK, Kari, Mimi, Joe, Yolei, Davis, Cody and Ken. And this is Agumon, Gabumon, Tentomon, Biyomon, Palmon, Patamon, Gatomon, Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Wormon, and Gomamon " Each person/Digimon smiled at Stella as their name was said.

She gave a shy smile back and settled into the cushions. "Okay. Well, I'm not going to sidestep anything. There's a lot of shit going on. Bad shit. Like Feymon said, we've been here for at least 3 months, I occasionally would return to our world to get food or supplies, and to attempt to figure out the time lapse between worlds. Everytime I leave more time passes here. And i've been hiding. It's dangerous out there. With just Feymon, it's impossible to fight off all those digimon. Even if my- nevermind." She paused.

Cody took this chance to ask Stella how long she had been partnered with Feymon. Stella smiled and responded with "Nine years. She's my truest friend."

"That's the same time that we first went to the digital world!" Mimi exclaimed."Were you there?"

"Yeah, I was. But I was alone. I thought once or twice I saw other humans, but I was worried it was a trick and so I stayed away. It's been just me most of my life and I didn't know if you would even have wanted me around. I mostly just wandered with Feymon and fought off those digimon we could, and helped those that needed it."

"You should've come out of hiding before. We would've been happy to have met you!" Izzy said. "And speaking of which, how have you been able to move between worlds? I've spent the past 4 years searching for a way back here from our world with absolutely no luck."

Stella frowned. "There are a few rifts, caused by this new darkness. That's how Feymon came back for me when Gennai came calling, and one happens to be located in this tree. But It's finicky. Gennai was able to provide a program for my digivice that keeps it open for me to run across, grab some supplies, and get back through. The program causes the rift to recognize my digivice and the rift will hold open, but once I come back through, it closes. But I never know when it will open. When I was in our world I was always hoping I would see someone with a digimon but no luck."

"Where are you from?" Kari asked.

"Odaiba, Japan. But I was born in California, in the United States."

"No way!" Tai exclaimed. "That's where we are all from! How have we never met in school? You have to be my age, we should have crossed paths at some point."

Stella exchanged a look with Feymon. "Oh..um..well… I never really went to school exactly. I moved to Odaiba from California when I was little and my uncle was a little…. Excentric. I was homeschooled and graduated early." She quickly changed the subject. "So anyways, as Feymon was so ecstatic about, I was given something by Gennai that is going to help turn the tide in the coming battles. Something none of the dark digimon will expect."

Stella opened her bag and fished out a tangle of what looked like necklaces. Suddenly, Izzy gasped and cried "Prodigious!" at the same time that TK thrust his fist in the air and exclaimed "No way!" Soon, Tai, Sora, Kari, Matt, Mimi and Joe were all grinning and echoing Izzy and TK's exclamations, while their Digimon all stared, speechless. In her hand, Stella held their crests.


	4. Chapter 4

Once again, I own nothing but Stella, Feymon, and all her digivolutions. Enjoy ch. 4!

Stella smiled as she held up the crests, and Feymon whipped her tail back and forth, eyes glittering. "Told you they would be excited," she said to Stella, who handed them over to be distributed to the proper person.

"How is this possible!?" Joe, who was busy examining his crest, exclaimed, "We gave up those crests years ago to help protect the digital world! I never thought we would see them again!"

"You never fully gave up the crests. I mean, from what Gennai told me the power lies in each of you individually. As he explained, you just gave up the physical properties of them, and in turn the power they gave to your digimon. But they have been rebuilt to hold the power each of you have and returned, because you need them. They failed protecting the digital world, if not Ken never would have became the digimon emperor, and the dark ocean would not have had influence in this world, and everything would be peaceful now."

Ken started. "How do you know all this, I never saw you in the digital world the entire time I was emperor, and no one else did."

"I was there, but I learned to move quietly and not be spotted when I was little. I'm very good at it. Plus, Gennai explained everything to me. I'm just going over big points because I don't think anyone would stay with me for long if I tried to explain everything that he told me. I still don't understand it all and I'm pretty sure I don't remember all of it. But he said that because the crests' power failed at protecting the digital world, they were able to be harnessed back into material forms. Azulongmon had a part in that. Once the control spires were gone he was able to regain his power and change the crests' powers back into forms that could be used by you and your digimon."

"Did Gennai tell you why they failed?" Davis asked.

"Yeah, and it has to do with this prophecy that Gennai discovered. The crests were incomplete when you released their powers the first time around." Ignoring everyone's shocked faces she continued, "Some of the crests are stronger in pairs, like a cheeseburger and fries, or the sun and moon. Each is good, but together they are amazing. When the bearers of these crests work together harmoniously, then the crests are at full power and can really shine. Sorry Izzy and Ken, but your's aren't included in this. Ken, this is due to your crest being given to you after the others, and Izzy, your crest isn't a feeling or emotion. You work well on your own, learning new things to help. For the rest, Love and Friendship are meant to work together, because without one you can't have the other. Reliability and Sincerity are meant to be linked, because unless a person is sincere, how can you rely on them? Light and Hope reflect each other and one helps the other grow. And Courage is matched with…" her voice grew quieter, "Faith. Because if you don't have any faith in yourself, your courage is nonexistent."

While Sora, Matt, Mimi and Joe were busy looking at each other as only those in love do, Tai frowned. "Wait. you said Courage is matched with Faith? There isn't a crest of Faith. Did Gennai make a mistake?"

Stella sighed, rubbed her eyes, and braced herself. _It was going to come out eventually_ she thought. _There was no going around this._ "Well, no, he didn't make a mistake. There's a tenth crest. The crest of Faith... And a digidestined already is matched with that crest. The prophecy involves all of you, but specifically Courage and Faith." Her fingers brushed her locked before she snatched them back to her sides.

You could have heard a pin drop. Everyone who wasn't already looking at Stella turned to her. Izzy was furiously working out who it might be in his head, Kari looked like you had just told her she was going to Mars, and Yolei's jaw was hanging open.

"You mean to tell us that there's ANOTHER digidestined? With ANOTHER crest? Who is.. I mean where is… Uhhh do you know who it is?" Tai sputtered out to Stella, who only shook her head without looking at him.

"S-sorry. I don't know… um Gennai didn't tell me her, or his it might by a guy, name. Wish I could say but I just don't know at all." This time she gripped her locket for a few seconds before realizing what she was doing. _Cool it Stels. Cool it way down._

Matt and Tai looked at her, looked at each other, and had one of those telepathic conversations only friends who have known each other for years can have.

" _She's hiding something."_

" _Well duh Matt. But what? It must have to do with the tenth crest."_

" _Do we call her out?"_

" _I don't know if now is the best time, in front of everyone. Maybe one of us could talk to her, I guess I can."_

" _She's cute isn't she Tai?"_

" _Or you can. I could care less"_

" _She's all yours bro. I'm taken."_

" _Shut it Matt."_

Matt smirked at Tai's expression and focused back on Stella as she was telling Izzy that Gennai had no idea who the tenth digidestined was, and that it could be anyone, the best thing to do would be to just hope they show up, and soon. "Plus there's the prophecy. Once all the reborn dark digimon are destroyed, the unity of the crests will grant Courage and Faith the tools to destroy the dark leader, and then the complete 10 crests will cover the Digital World in light and all will be pure in the Digital World.

"Oh enough of this talk!" Feymon stretched, claws extended, "It's time to EAT! Stels, you said you got rice balls and pizza yesterday. I demand pizza! Who's with me?"

Davis and Veemon raised their hands, everyone laughed, and Stella looked relieved. "Yeah, kitchen is over here." She got up, and walked to the left, where there was nook with a stove and a fridge. "Take anything you want. I stock up on frozen food, and have plenty. And there's bedrooms down each of these hallways, should be enough for everyone. There should be stuff to drink, just about anything. Pick your poison."

After a filling and cheerful dinner, Patamon started yawning. TK looked at his partner, and laughed. "Well, we're heading off to bed. Night!"

"TK wait up! We're feeling dead too, I think there's two bedrooms down this way, want to claim them?" Kari asked, and TK nodded. Following their lead, everyone got up, and soon the only ones left were Stella, Feymon, Tai, Izzy, who was typing away on his computer, and Tentomon. Stella stood up, and began walking towards a small spiral staircase that was almost hidden with Feymon close behind.

"Wait, Stella, can I talk to you?" Tai asked. He wanted to figure out what she was hiding. Stella paused and hesitantly nodded before continuing to walk. Tai scratched his head and followed, wondering how someone could be bubbly and welcoming one minute, and then suddenly switch and be an antisocial mute. When he got to the top of the staircase, he grinned. "Damn, this is an amazing view."

He was standing in what must be the top of the tree, where the leaves were transparent, allowing one to look out across the forest. Turning around, he saw that the ocean was within a mile, and looking up, he saw the stars and a massive full moon light up the sky. "Well, what do you want?" Stella asked, rubbing her thumb on her locket. _Please, please don't be about that stupid crest._ She flashed back to nine years earlier, when she first came to the digital world.

 _Nine Years in the Past_

" _Feymon, what does this mean?" Young Stella looked at the crest in her hand. It was almost transparent, shining with the faintest silver. Etched on the front was a crescent moon and a single star just above the top of the moon._

" _Silly Stelly, it's your crest! The crest of faith! It belongs to you forever and ever! It helps me digivolve past Trigarimon and be even stronger." Feymon purred._

" _But… I can't make it work!" Stella's eyes filled with tears. "When we fought that bad orange digimon you almost lost. Is it broken?"_

" _No, silly. You just need to find your faith. You know, when you know that feeling when you absolutely know that people care about you and love you and won't ever let anything bad happen to you! When you would trust them with your life!"_

" _But I don't know any people that are like that. Not since mommy and daddy went away! You're the only one that wants to keep me safe but you can't do that unless I can make this glow and I can't do that! I can't be good enough to do that, I'm broken." Stella started crying, and Feymon wrapped her tail around the crying child and sat there, helpless to make her feel better._

"Stella?" She snapped back to the present to see Tai looking at her. "Well? Are you sure you know nothing about the missing digidestined and the missing crest?"

Stella, between reminiscing and being defensive, felt angry, hurt, and frustrated, and lashed out. "NO! God, why? Why would you think I did? I already told you no! I wish I did, I wish I could tell you that I knew them and they had the crest and everything was okay but it isn't and I can't! You're all going to leave now that you got what you want anyways, so just go find her yourself." Feeling herself beginning to cry with frustration, she pushed past Tai and ran back downstairs. He faintly heard a door slam, before turning back to Feymon, wincing.

"I struck a nerve, didn't I?"

"A little. Stella hasn't had the easiest life. It's not mine to share, but when she's ready she will. You just need to give her time and show her that you all aren't going to just leave her alone when you get what you want. Poor girl has had enough of that. If you wanted to make it up to her, she loves anything involving stars or the ocean. And sunflowers. Those make her smile. Goodnight Tai." Leaving Tai to mull over that, Feymon walked down the stairs after her partner.

Fumbling around in the dark, Tai crawled into bed, hearing Agumon mutter "night" from the top bunk. He laid awake, wondering how they would find the tenth digidestined, realizing Stella called it a she, which means she definitely knows something, and if he had just made Stella hate him by questioning her. _I should find some sunflowers tomorrow_ he thought, before drifting off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Hope everyone is enjoying so far! And that you like the new character! As always I own nothing but my own creations

Stella opened her eyes to the sound of footsteps and murmurs coming from the kitchen. She groaned and rubbed her eyes. She never slept in this late, but all she wanted to do was lay in bed and ignore the giant group of Digimon and humans outside. She knew that she had snapped at Tai last night and was worried sick he had told the whole group, and they all suspected her. She covered her head with a pillow and felt a tail brush her arm.

"You know, eventually you have to tell them the truth Stells," Feymon said, "It's better if they hear it from you versus figuring it out on their own. You are the owner of the crest of faith."

Stella sat up and opened her locket, picking the crest hidden within. She held it up and admired it's iridescent crescent moon and star, and how it caught the light, and shone. "It's the right thing to do," Feymon said, as Stella abruptly closed the crest in her fist and put it back in the locket, closing it away from the light.

"Yeah, well maybe if I wasn't so fucked up, the damn thing would glow, you could digivolve, and I could help save the digital world, instead of hiding like I always do. Besides, they don't care about me, all they want is this stupid crest and it's power. No one cares about me… except you. But even you leave." Stella got up, got dressed and stalked out, leaving Feymon shaking her head.

"I have when she's like this," she muttered, following her out, only to run into the back of Stella's legs. She was holding a single sunflower, with a faint smile mixed with confusion on her face, wondering who left it there. Then she turned to Feymon, and mouthed "sorry". Feymon blinked in return, used to mood swings, and walked towards the noise, with Stella following. As they walked in, they were greeted with a chorus of "Good mornings!" Stella gave a smile, and then walked towards the staircase before someone calling: "Where are you going?" stopped her progress. She closed her eyes, and turned to see Wormon looking at her.

"I'm going to explore. It's what I do every day. Patrols come around at night so I stay indoors, but in the daylight it's easy to spot them so I like to get out and make sure everything's okay.."

"Well why would you go alone?" Agumon chimed in.

"Because, I've been alone for three months. Hence, I always go alone" Stella replied.

"Yeah, but you aren't alone anymore," Mimi pointed out. "It can't be fun going off on your own every day. Why don't we all go? It would sure be nice to see some more of the digital world and how much it's changed. Maybe we'll see some old friends!" Stella opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, everyone exclaimed what a great idea it was, someone stuffed a banana in her free hand, and before she knew it everyone was heading outside, with her swept up in the middle next to Tai and Armadillomon. _Gods be damned_ she thought _I can't catch a damn break_.

"I see you got my apology." Someone whispered in her ear, startling her. She turned to see Tai smiling at her, and glanced at the sunflower she was still holding. She stopped, and waited until the rest of the group had moved ahead of them.

"That was you?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry if you felt attacked or threatened last night. I just wanted to ask you again if you knew anything. I hope that this hasn't ruined any chances of us being friends. You've been alone for so long, that's not fair to anyone."

"I mean.. I'm not alone because I don't have any…. That is to say…." Stella was at a loss of words. How could she defend herself to that? It was like he got right down to her core and identified one of her most deepest and strongest issues. "I just spent time alone growing up. I wasn't let out of the house much, and I saw no reason to develop any relationships, everyone says they are there for you, but they leave eventually. No point in putting faith in anyone when they don't stick around."

Tai blinked "Wow. I'm sorry… That, well, blows. But you aren't alone anymore! You've got all of us- he gestured to the group ahead- and we aren't going anywhere. I promise."

"But I'm not the crest holder you seek out. You don't need me for any reason. You know how to get into the tree hideaway, you know the prophecy, you know the name of the crest, you know everything. I'll just wake up one morning and be alone again. Alone and useless. It's my M.O."

"Geez Stella, don't be so hard on yourself. You've survived 3 months alone in the digital world, that's impressive. You must be pretty strong for that. And you aren't useless. I don't know why you would think that. Everyone has a role. The digital world chose you for a reason. Feymon became your partner for a reason. You're special, and I can't believe that you can't see it. I do, and I've known you less than a day."

Stella was silent for a few minutes, and the only sound was the chatter of the group ahead as they walked. When she got around to responding, she nearly whispered it, and Tai had to lean in to hear what she said, "Why would you say that? It's not true. I've been a digidestined for nine years, and so far all I've been is a glorified delivery girl. The one time I tried to be more I failed. Please don't lie to me." And she rushed up to the group to walk with Kari and TK.

"Agumon, what's wrong with me?" Tai groaned as she rushed away, "I only want to get to know her and I just make her mad whenever I try."

Agumon shrugged, and opened his mouth to respond, but before he could Davis yelled back at them "Hey guys, come on! You seriously need to see this."

Tai and Agumon ran up to the group, and gasped at the sight before them. Beyond the hill on which they stood, was nothing. The trees were burnt, and there was smoke wafting from the ground. Kari and Sora were in tears, and Matt was clenching his fist. Stella was standing there, eyes to the ground.

"I didn't want to tell you. Myotismon did this. He and Devimon have been hunting me, because of the crests. Somehow they leraned that I was carrying all your crests, and the witch hunt began. They figured out I was hiding in the woods, and they have started burning it down by sections, trying to drive me out. Luckily they search each section, so I've been fortunate to have some time. But lucky you came when you did because soon I'll have to leave this area for good. And I'm helpless to stop them." Tears glistened in her eyes.

"Well let's fight them together!" Tentomon said. "Together we can defeat the two of them, Machinedramon and Piedmon!"

"Yeah!" Everyone chorused. Feymon leapt off Stella's shoulder in excitement. Izzy looked proud that his Digimon was so eager to take on the dark digimon, and Stella just looked worried, which everyone soon learned was her go-to face when group ideas were suggested.

With that decision made, the group had their goal, which logically was their goal to begin with, only now it was in the open, with everyone (besides Stella) on board. Over the next month, everyone prepared. They took turns patrolling the woods, mapping the area, figuring out the pattern of burnings the army was doing, deciding battle plans and most importantly, where they could start looking for the 10th crest bearer. Except Stella. She spent her time, when not helping the group, in the third floor room, staring at the ocean, the stars, and when she left the hideout, she went straight down to the ocean and would sit there, alone.

Tai and Kari were worried about her, the more they discussed the last digidestined, the more quiet and sullen she became, and she kept distancing herself. They tried talking to Feymon, who would only tell them that it was her choice to explain her actions, because they were Stella's secrets, not hers, to tell. And that they shouldn't give up on her. The two of them also spoke with the rest of the group, and everyone tried to get her involved. She would smile and be kind, but never let anyone get close, except for Tai. For some reason no one fathomed, she didn't mind Tai coming and joining her whenever she was alone. Maybe it was because she had been snappy with him and he still put up with her. Either way, any time he would come close to connecting with her she would still abruptly just walk away.

As their first month in the Digital World came to a close, Tai had managed to worm out a few more details from Stella, but nothing she said made sense, he knew that she was keeping something big to herself, and he desperately wanted to know what it was. When she did break her quiet demeanor, she was charming and funny, and he loved making her laugh. Her smile, when present, was infectious and no one could look at it and not smile back.

One day Stella vanished. Feymon was still around, and assured everyone that Stella had simply found a portal and was back in their world, and she was gone barely an hour in truth. Sure enough, a few nights later everyone was getting ready to make dinner and Stella ran in. She was in one of her rare good moods, and everyone had learned to zone in when she was in one of these. Breathing heavily, she leaned on Ken's shoulder to catch her breath before addressing the group. "I just ran into a Floramon when I was coming back through the portal. She said that Devimon and Myotismon are on the move with their part of the army. They're heading south, to meet with their master, Machinedramon and Piedmon. We should follow, it might be our only chance to find out who this digimon is. Besides, based on the pattern this section of the forest is the next one burned. You guys in?"

Shocked that Stella wanted to actually include them, there was silence for a few seconds before Yolei jumped up, brimming with excitement and fire. "I think I speak for everyone when I say YOU BETCHA!"

"We leave day after tomorrow then. It won't be hard to track them, and we could use the extra day to rest. And I know I've been distant lately, and I wanted to make it up to you. Before we go into these big battles, I thought you could all use a night of fun…." She grinned, and ran to her room, returning with four bulging bags, "This portal opened into a convenience store stockroom so I just grabbed stuff and left money. I thought we could have a bit of a party."

In the bags was mounds of sushi, egg drop soup, rice balls, and cupcakes along with soda and wine. "I know that most of us aren't legally able to drink, but I've had a fake since I was 18**, and I find that some wine helps when facing a big event, or just about anything. Plus we're saving the world. If anyone should be able to have a drink, it's us."

Soon, the party was in full swing. Knowing that all the evil digimon wouldn't attack for the night, everyone was able to relax and have a good time. _Stella was right_ TK thought, _this was a good idea. We all need a night to relax. Especially when we are going to fight some big battles._

Someone put on music, and soon Mimi dragged Joe to dance, followed by Yolei, Ken, Gatomon, Veemon and Patamon. Cody and Izzy sat with their digimon, enjoying some sushi and chatting. Matt and Sora were sharing some wine and discussing their wedding with their two digimon. Agumon was learning the proper way to eat a cupcake from Davis -"see, you cut the bottom off and make a sandwich"- TK whispered something in Kari's ear and they wandered upstairs, and Tai went to sit with Davis and Agumon when he felt Feymon's tail on his wrist.

"Stella just went down to the beach, and she asked me to get you. I think she wants to finally share. I'll leave you two alone, but I'll be close by if you need anything."

Eager to get some answers, Tai followed Feymon out of the room and down the stairs, wondering what he was about to learn.

** Not sure what the drinking age in Japan is so I went with it being the same as in the States.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for vanishing for a while... I was off traveling. But here's chapter 6 and as per usual I own nothing.

Stella sat in the sand, eyes closed, listening to the waves against the shore. She took a sip from the bottle of wine next to her and laid against the sand. Courtesy of the wine, the full moon, and the wind blowing through the cove, she felt more relaxed than she had in weeks. _I love the full moon,_ she thought, _there's so much magic in the air._ "Stella?" Tai's voice broke her trance and she turned to see him standing next to her. "Can I sit down?"

"Sure… why aren't you at the party?" She asked.

Tai looked puzzled as he sat down. "Well, Feymon said that you…." He trailed off as both of them turned to look at Feymon, who arranged her face into a befuddled expression before running into the bushes. They looked back at each other, and Stella offered the wine. Silently, Tai took it, and after a hearty sip, gave it back.

They sat like this, taking turns sipping from the wine and looking at the stars and moon sparkling on the waves. Tai wanted to say something, but didn't want to break the spell that held them there. Stella was the most at peace Tai had ever seen her, he was afraid to ruin it.

"You know, it's not that I want to be so stiff all the time," Stella murmured. "I have to be. When I was very young, I believed in everyone. I trusted any person I met. My parents loved me, and I was surrounded by the biggest extended family. I spent my days surrounded by people who taught me that you can lean on others, that people care and love one another. But then, my parents died when I was 5, and I was shipped off to Odaiba to live with my distant uncle by my parent's lawyers. Something about custodial rights staying in the family. But my uncle hated having a child around, and made me stay in my room all the time. When i got older, he would give me a list of chores to do, and if they weren't done when he returned from work I was punished, stuck in my room. I learned that you can't rely on anyone but yourself. People came over, but no one ever wondered, ever asked."

She took a breath and continued, "The few kids I met when I did get out of the house never wanted to be friends. Why would they? I was the girl who home schooled herself and graduated at 16. The same year I petitioned to be an emancipated minor. I couldn't take it, I had to be rid of him. And besides, since my parents died in a car crash there was a huge settlement that was turned into a trust fund for me that I get when I turn 21, and he was trying to get his hands on it. I've been alone since then. Anyone I meet doesn't stick around. They leave. My faith in anyone but Feymon is gone, broken. But even Feymon leaves. Why should I be warm to those will will leave? Let people in, trust others? It's just more broken faith, more loneliness. That's why I am how I am." She kept her eyes locked on the waves and took another sip of wine. They fell into silence for a few minutes, while Tai thought about what to say.

"Stella….. I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what that was like to live through. But you're strong. You have to be to survive that. And you're not just strong, you are simply amazing," Tai glanced at Stella to see her looking at him with wide eyes, "You don't have to be cold to me, to us. We won't leave. I won't leave. I swear it. I don't care that you snap at me and always seem so cold, I won't leave you. Especially not after hearing that. I'm not going to let you isolate yourself anymore. Okay? I want you to know that we are here as your friends, and that we all care about you."

Stella stared at him, and he shifted. _Crap, maybe I should've just said sorry and no-_ his thoughts were cut off by Stella throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his neck, crying. Throwing one arm in the sand to prevent them from falling over, he wrapped his other arm around her waist and leaned his cheek on her hair. "I-I'm sorry T-T-Tai. No one has ever b-been sssso nice to me," she cried. "U-usually they just ssssay ssssory and then l-l-leave."

"It's okay, Stella. You know, I've never met anyone like you. It's too bad you aren't the holder of the crest of faith. I would love to fight by your side to defeat this mystery enemy. I can tell you're one hell of a fighter," he paused, decided to roll with it, and sat up straight, tilting her head up towards his. The moon reflected the tears in her eyes, and from Tai's view it looked like they were full of stars. "Not only that, but you're absolutely spectacular, and beautiful. Even though this front you've put up, I can see who you really are. I want to see the real you more often. The one who smiles with her eyes, who secretly is trying to watch out for all of us, who loves staring at the stars and the waves for hours. Who is so incredibly kind, and brave, and different from any girl I have ever met."

He brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face and used his thumb to brush the last tears from her cheeks. She tried to look away but he gently held her face where it was, gazing at his. "Tai-" she started to say, but he cut her off.

"Don't ask me how I managed to fall for you, I don't know. It might have been just now, or maybe it was when I first saw you, or when you abruptly turned and stalked away from us after telling us to follow you when we first met. But I did. You're absolutely beautiful." He leaned in, and felt her breath on his lips, and just as suddenly as he felt it, it was gone.

He opened his eyes to see her pull away and look at him, fear building in her eyes. "There's something else I need to tell you. Please, Tai… don't hate me for this. I can't keep it a secret anymore, especially from you. Just please, don't hate me. And promise not to tell anyone, no matter what, unless I say you can."

"Umm…"

"Swear"

"Okay, okay. I swear."

Her fingers trembling, she reached behind her and undid the clasp on the chain from which her locket hung. Piling the chain and locket in her hand, she reached for his and placed it in his open palm. "Before you open it, you have to know. It's been nine years, and nothing. After everything that happened to me, it's no surprise that it won't work. And it's not Feymon's fault, or that thing's fault, it's mine. I determined long ago that I'm broken. I'm broken and can't be fixed. Everything in my life broke me, what I was once full of, I no longer have. I was a different person when I was picked for this. And I didn't see how I could explain all of this to that giant group inside. I have always wanted lots of friends, but I can't admit all of this to them. It's too much. But something about you is different. Since we met I've wanted to trust you, let you in. I felt safe with you, so I'm opening up. But I couldn't kiss you without you knowing everything. And I wanted to kiss you. But I'm ashamed. Especially considering what the two of us are destined to do." She hung her head, "Open it."

 _What the hell is in this locket?_ Tai wondered, and slowly opened it, pulling out what lay within. His eyes grew wide, his mouth opened in a silent gasp. There, shining in the light of the full moon, was the missing crest. The silvery crescent moon glimmered, echoing the opposite of the golden sun that adorned the crest around his neck and the tattoo on his wrist. Stella had known where it was all along, and lied.

"Tai…" Stella kneeled in the sand next to him, one hand in the sand and the other reaching for his arm. She placed her hand on his arm gently. "Please, talk to me. Please understand. I may bear the crest of faith, but I have none inside of my heart. I may have lied, but without the ability to make the crest glow, I might as well not even have it. You have no idea how hard it was to tell you. Please."

Tai stayed silent, flashing between pity, understanding, and anger. _She knew. The whole time. She lied. How dare she? How dare she stand there, letting us debate how to find this imaginary digidestined and now say anything? Even if it doesn't work, she still should have told us_. He glanced at her, and saw the pure fear and raw emotion in her eyes. But Tai's anger was winning.

"How could you keep this a secret. How? We have been freaking out, trying to find a person that I'm now learning does not exist? That's been right in front of us all along? Stella, this is low. I-I don't know what to think. This is life or death. The destruction of two worlds. Maybe what you say is true. But lying about it? Maybe you should just go. I don't think I can look at you right now." He didn't mean to say it so harshly, but his anger gave the words more bite than needed.

Stella's eyes filled with tears, and she withdrew her hand. Standing up, she softly said "If that's what you wish Tai. I'm so sorry. I'm not worthy of such a crest, especially one that is paired with your's. Why don't you hang onto it, I'm sure that you'll find someone more worthy to bear it." With that she ran off, crying.

The longer Tai sat there, the more his initial anger faded, and turned into compassion, and pity. He was still frustrated, but realized that Stella had just been scared, and was doing what she thought was the best choice. He thought back to what she told him about her childhood, and then realized that he basically had done what everyone else had; he had sent her away, instead of telling her that he wanted her to stay with him. If he ever hoped to help her make her crest glow, he needed to show her that he cared for her, and that she could depend on him. _I need to find her. I need to make this right._

He jumped up, and raced through the trees, hoping to catch her. But he encountered no one, and soon he reached the entryway into their hideout. He hurried upstairs, hoping to find her. But the party was still going, and Stella was nowhere to be found.


	7. Chapter 7

Sadly, I don't own Digimon. Still. Enjoy the chapter!

While Stella and Tai were talking, TK and Kari were looking up at the stars up on the "roof". "The stars are so pretty TK," Kari murmured. "It's nice sitting here with you."

TK looked at her and grinned, deciding to finally come clean, because there's nothing like the prospect of being destroyed by evil Digimon to make you realize what's important. "Yeah, Kari, it's beautiful. The stars are almost as beautiful as you."

She blushed, and brushed her hair behind her ears. "Come on TK, you don't need to goof around."

"No, I mean it Kari. Look, we're close. You're my best friend. Patamon's been bugging me about why I haven't told you how I feel yet and says he won't stop until I do, so here goes. Do you remember what I said to you back in 7th grade? When the dark ocean was trying to take you?"

"Of course. You told me that you cared for me too much to let it take me without a fight. You never did explain that." She leaned on her right hand and turned to look at him. "What did you mean? And don't just say stuff."

"Ummm…. Well…." _Crap. Harder than I thought. Damn you Patamon, and your incessant nagging. And damn my incessant wimping out. And damn…. Everything._

"Tk, come on. Just tell me! Maybe I care about you too, but you're too stubborn to tell me how you feel, so you won't know!" She glared at him. _Motherfucking idot. Just tell me you love me._

TK rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Kari, you know I care about you. You mean more to me than anyone, even Patamon. You're the most amazing girl I've ever met." _God damnit I'm such a wimp._

"Then why did you date around if you care so much about me? Didn't think that hurt me? TK I'm crazy about you, and I've had to sit here watching you date all those girls and tell me all about them, and I had to just sit there, quietly, pretending I wasn't going cr-" she was interrupted by TK grabbing her head in both hands, and kissing her deeply.

They kissed for a few minutes, TK pulling her closer to him before breaking the kiss. "Kari, the only reason I dated any of those girls was to try to make you jealous. I figured that if you liked me you would do something or-" this time he was shut up by Kari kissing him and pressing herself against him, as he wrapped his arms around her. They stayed like this for a while longer, kissing each other more and more deeply.

They were interrupted by someone downstairs, yelling "She's gone!" in an anguished voice. They broke apart, and smiled at each other, then looked at the floor wondering what was going on. TK stood up before offering his hand to Kari. She smiled, and after taking it stood up and let him lead her downstairs.

The sight that waited them was dismal. Tai was sitting with his head in his hands, a folded up letter in his hand. Sora reached for it, and he yanked it down and put it in his pocket. Everyone else looked upset, and worried. TK and Kari got downstairs without anyone noticing them, and then she dropped TK's hand. "Seems like the wrong time to say anything" she whispered, and he nodded.

"So Tai, tell us what happened." Agumon prompted his partner.

"I already told you. I walked into my room and saw a note waiting for me. She's left. She says that she and Feymon would only get in our way and that she's sorry, but she knew that we would never let her leave. How could I let her do this? She needs m-us. And I-we, we need her. I have to go find her." He got up, but before he could take a step, Matt grabbed his hand. _I don't know why he's this upset, she can handle herself, and it's silly to just rush off to find her in the dark._

"Tai, be reasonable. She knows these woods better than any of us, she's got at least 30 minutes on us, and it's dark. And besides, we need to focus on finding the last Digidestined, and figuring out who we have to defeat." Matt could tell Tai was upset, but knew this was what he needed to hear. "Look, yes, she's a digidestined, but she isn't a crest bearer. And all Feymon can do is digivolve to the champion level. We don't need her as badly as we do this mystery Digidestined. I'm not saying she isn't important, but right now she's not at the top of my list."

Sora saw Tai's face, and rushed to intervene before he punched Matt square in the face. She knew the last thing this group needed was another fight between the two. "What Matt means, is that we have a lot to do. Remember when I left the group because I felt that I wasn't needed, and when Matt did the same thing? We both came back. I'm sure Stella will come back. Why don't we all go to sleep, we're leaving tomorrow." She could tell Tai was still upset, but he nodded and wordlessly walked to his room, with Agumon behind him.

In bed, he took Stella's letter out of his pocket and read it once again:

 _Tai,_

 _I'm so sorry. For lying, for everything. I never should have kept this from your group, and especially not you. I'm leaving, with Feymon. I just can't face you right now. You must despise me. I'm sorry for ruining…. this. For ruining everything. You will all do better without me lagging around anyways. I can't do anything right, and I don't want to get in your way. You'll find someone much more suited to this crest then me. Please don't try to find me._

 _I'm sorry,_

 _Stella._

"I will find you." he whispered, holding her locket containing her crest, before rolling over, and going to sleep.

The next morning was a blur for everyone. They were leaving as the sun rose, and a select few were very grumpy. Davis didn't understand why they couldn't just leave later, because "wasn't sleeping in more important for the 'Digimon,'" and refused to humor any explanation from Izzy. In turn, Tai was snapping at Davis for being difficult, Veemon was yelling at Tai for snapping at Davis, and Gabumon was holding back Agumon from knocking Veemon over for yelling at Tai. Mimi and Joe were trying to be positive, but Joe just kept yawning, which for some reason irked Tentomon. Besides Sora, Ken, and Izzy, Kari and TK were the most (and only) cheerful ones in the bunch. "Stupid morning people" Davis muttered while shoving toast into his mouth.

After a few hours of walking, everyone seemed to be in better spirits, and they also knew they were on the right path. They kept running into Digimon who were coming out of hiding, and were more than eager to share the direction of the Digimon they were hunting. Not that it was hard, there was a path of destruction that showed the way. Matt kept trying to get Tai's attention, but whenever he tried, Tai would scoot over to walk with someone else. He felt bad for last night, and sensed that Tai had something he was hiding. _Ugh, Tai. Just let me talk to you_.

Meanwhile, walking in the trees near the group was Stella and Feymon. Last night, after she had Feymon slip the note on to Tai's bed, she had ended up walking in circles all night. She knew that Tai was up there telling all of them what she did. She didn't know what she was doing, but a part of her hoped that Tai would veer off to look for her. She had thought long and hard, and decided she should fight. For now, she was going to hunt these dark digimon, because she was tired of hiding. She was ashamed of lying to all of them, and was going to try to do something right. She wasn't going to sit back anymore. All of these digidestined put themselves in danger, and while Stella knew that Feymon couldn't digivolve to a strong enough level and Stella herself was broken, maybe they could do something to help. If not, they would die trying.


	8. Chapter 8

Here's chapter 8! Hope everyone is enjoying the story! And anytime you see a row of ~~~ that means that I'm siting POVs that are occurring at the same time. And I own nothing

The next morning, everyone woke up to the ground shaking. Gomamon and Agumon came bursting through the bushes, followed by two Tyrannomon, a group of Bakumon, and a Guardromon. "Guys, I think we've been found!" Joe shouted

One of the Tyrannomon opened his mouth, and quickly the Digimon sprang into action.

 _Agumon digivolve to... Greymon_

 _Gabumon digivolve to... Garurumon_

 _Biyomon digivolve to… Birdramon_

 _Gomamon digivolve to… Ikkakumon_

 _Palmon digivolve to… Togemon_

 _Tentomon digivolve to… Kabuterimon_

 _Patamon digivolve to… Angemon_

 _Veemon digivolve to… Xveemon_

 _Hawkmon digivolve to… Aquilamon_

 _Armadillomon digivolve to… Ankylomon_

 _Wormon digivolve to… Stingmon_

Gatomon led the attack jumping onti the nose of one of the Tyrannomon, crying _Cat's Eye_ as she hypnotized it. That lead to havoc, as the Guardromon became confused by the Tyrannomon attacking him, and the two went on to fight, simultaneously taking the other out. Running past that scene, Garurumon and Greymon took on the other Tyrannomon. _Howling Blaster_ was the first attack, followed by Greymon's _Nova Blast_ , which knocked the attacking digimon out. With a _Meteor Wing_ from Birdramon, the two Tyrannomon and Guardromon were vanquished, their data fading away.

With only the Bakumon left, Sora, remembering her fight against them with Joe, began clapping a steady pace, with the others picking up. As they chanted, "Bakumon lose your power!" the digimon who hadn't taken down the larger opponents used their attacks to defeat the ghost type digimon. It was surprisingly easy, considering the Digimon were rusty on fighting, and it put everyone in a good mood.

"Wow, a victory and we haven't even had breakfast yet!" Cody cheered, "Now let's get some food!"

"Don't get too excited, I have a feeling that was just the fire brigade," Joe adjusted his glasses "And we all know if they were ditched back here to start fires to force us out of hiding, they were probably the lackeys of the weakest Digimon."

"Geez Joe, way to put a damper on our first victory in years." Gomamon smirked.

"Hey, who wants to fly up and see what they can see?" Sora asked, changing the subject. She may not be the main leader, but she was always the most levelheaded one in the group and kept Tai and Matt in line when they let their bullheadedness and lack of impulse control get the best of them. "We can see which way we should head."

Meanwhile, Feymon and Stella were walking in the opposite direction, arguing about their destination.

"Stella."

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

"Let's go join the others, I know you can track them with your digivice and I can sniff them out."

"Okay… so you DO know what I was going to say."

"The answer is no. I can't face them until I either have regained my faith, or I do something equally great to make up for being a lying jackass."

"Stells. There's no way Tai told them."

"I'm not taking any chances. You can't trust anyone, even yourself."

Feymon went to form a rebuttal, but stopped when a Unimon landed in front of them with an unconscious Electomon on it's back. Stella ran over, checking the Electomon's pulse when the Unimon began speaking.

"He is okay, simply knocked out. But Devimon has taken a portion of the dark army and is attacking Primary Village. He isn't taking no chances, he will not let any digimon that could harm his master's final goal be born or reborn. We need the Digidestineds help."

Electomon stirred, and wobbly tried to jump down, but Stella caught him and helped him down.

"I need to find the digidestined….." he mumbled, "Need help."

"Electomon, you're too weakened to go catch them!" Stella cried.

"No. I must." He got up, and by sheer willpower managed to walk, in the wrong direction. Feymon gently corrected him, and he went off, moving faster as he regained his balance and remembered his purpose.

Stella squared her shoulders, and called to the Unimon, "Can you take us there?"

"Of course." With that, Stella jumped on, and Feymon jumped up in her lap. Wrapping one arm around the Unimon's neck as he took off, she closed her eyes.

"Stella, they will come."

"I know. But I can't let innocent digimon die. I'm already haunted by mistakes I've made. How can I not help these digimon? Besides, I'm sure that once the battle ends we can sneak away. It'll be crazy, and they may not even see me. They don't know what your champion form is. I know that because of me your power is limited, but are you ready to fight?"

Feymon bared her teeth and growled, signaling she was ready. "Stella, Devimon is going down. I will personally make sure of that." Stella smiled grimly. _I hate when she says things like that._


	9. Chapter 9

The usual... I own nothing and so on. Enjoy!

Stella felt the wind rush by her as Unimon flew over the Digital World. Braiding her hair, she knew they were close, not only because she had visited the Primary Village before, but she could see the battle. Gripping the large branch she had grabbed before Unimon took off, she prepared to fight. While she had no powers or special attacks, she was scrappy and a tough fighter. She taught herself boxing and used it as a way to beat her frustrations and hurts out. And large sticks always worked well as a defense. She could take out some rookie Digimon.

Feymon looked at the scene, and then yelled "Watch out!" as a blast of lightning shot at them, coming from Andromon. Dodging the blast, Unimon came to land at the back of the fighting Digimon. Feymon jumped from his back, and Stella fell off in what was apparently supposed to be a rolling landing. With as much dignity as she could muster, she got up using her branch, and brushed her legs off. Looking around, she realized that the fight was not going well. There were holes in the defenses and Devimon could be seen smirking with confidence.

"I apologize Unimon, I did not realize it was you," Andromon said walking up, "there are many enemies, and I could not take any chances. We need you back fighting."

 _Tail Whip!_ Feymon pounced on a Veggimon, and the two began tussling. Stella ran over to defend her Digimon, but before she could help, the Veggimon vanished, and Feymon was sitting there triumphant. Her eyes flashing, she looked at Stella and Stella closed her eyes, and nodded. "Go."

Her digivice began glowing, and Feymon along with it.

 _Feymon digivolve to… Trigaramon!_

In place of Feymon stood a large cat type digimon, similar in looks to Feymon. Tigaramon was midnight blue with thin silver stripes adorning her, and what looked to be small constellations going down her legs. She still had a split tail, except the two ends of her tail had shimmering silver and blue flames. Her tail ring still adorned her tail. Trigaramon was more muscular than Feymon, and along her back there was a thick ridge of fur, except for an empty spot right after her neck, which was surrounded by a small mane of the darkest blue imaginable. Stella's shoulders were even with her neck, and she was large enough that she could ride her. She had thick, white fangs that hung from each side of her mouth, and had eyes the color of the sky.

 **I am Trigaramon! I am a Champion Level Digimon. Watch out for my Tiger's Flame attack!**

"Kick ass Trigaramon," Stella whispered, and placed her hand on her Digimon's side, right as a group of 20 Bakumon broke through the hole in the defenses with a Veggietamumon and two woodmon following. Andromon charged the Veggietamumon, and snarling, Trigaramon lept into action. She growled _Tiger's flame,_ causing the flames on her tail to spread to her entire body, then separate into a flaming copy of the digimon, which lept towards the Woodmon, engulfing one of them in flames, the other running towards Stella, figuring her to be the easier target. But before he could reach her, he was hit by a second attack.

Stella gripped her stick, and ran towards a Bakumon, wacking it across the face as she ran past. She spun around, and swung her left leg through the air, getting the enemy Digimon in the back. It fell down, and was finished by a second Electomon. Stella grinned, then turned and saw the fight left, and squared her shoulders before charging at a Veggimon.

The fight continued, and it felt like hours had passed, but Stella had no idea how long it had actually been. Trigaramon was running low on energy, and Stella didn't know how much longer she would hold her champion form. Plus, Trigaramon was trying to get at Devimon and Stella knew that she wouldn't stop until he was defeated. Even though it would result in her death.

Stella had long lost her jacket and stick, and was wrestling with a Bakumon in the dirt. She already had a scratch on her arm, which was stinging. And now the Bakumon was trying to scratch her eyes, and she shoved it off, panting. Before she could get up it came jumping to her, and she managed to kick it behind her as she rolled onto her hands and knees, scrambling to her feet. When she turned around to face it, it was gone. Hearing a noise approaching from behind, she spun around, swinging her hand to openly hit whatever it was, her knuckles too sore and raw to close into a fist for a punch.

She saw a giant, and tall, blur of orange and blue charing past her, roaring, and then felt her arm caught in something's grasp. Not bothering to look in her panic of being caught, she closed her eyes, and swung her other arm, this time in a weak fist, but this arm was caught too. Opening her eyes to see what would be her maker, she found herself looking into Tai's brown eyes, and her mouth dropped open. She had kind of forgotten that the rest of the Digidestined would show up. _I should've let that Bakumon knock me out_ she thought, and tried to free her arms, but Tai wouldn't let go, he just looked at her, like she was a ghost.

"Stella! Boy are we glad to see you!" she heard Kari exclaim, and looking past Tai she saw Cody, Davis, Tk, Kari and Izzy running up, their digimon already embroiled in the fight. "Electomon said that you were here! Are you okay?"

Tai, as if coming out of a trance, dropped her arms, and then everyone started looking at her, and Stella became aware of her appearance. She was covered in dust, and her braid was on it's last limb. Besides the scratch on her left arm and her raw knuckles, there was a small scratch from a Woodmon on her right cheek and she was unsteady on her feet. "I'm fine… but it's a good thing you guys are here. I actually don't know how the fight is going, but I'm assuming badly. Andromon was the most powerful digimon here until you guys came, and Tigaramon is almost out of energy."

She shakily dusted off as much as she could, wincing as she ran her hand lightly over the scratch on her arm, and then felt something on her shoulders. Tai had taken off his jacket and silently placed it on her shoulders before heading towards the last of the battle. With the arrival of Wargreymon, Magnaangemon, Angewomon, Megakabuterimon, Digmon, and EXVeemon, the battle was coming to an end. Devimon hadn't planned on the Digidestined coming, and was backing off, attempting to sneak away before he was spotted. He wasn't an idiot, and knew that he alone, even with his amplified power, was no match for all the ultimates, let alone a mega. Wargreymon, throwing his arms up, yelled _Terra Force!_ and knocked Devimon down in his tracks. He tried to retaliate with his _Dark Claw,_ but Angewomon froze him in place with her _Heaven's Charm_ and Magnaangemon struck Devimon down with Excalibur. The remaining Digimon, lead by Megakabuterimon, quickly rounded up the rest of his army and put out any flames that had spread to the last bit of Primary Village.

WIth that, one of the resurrected Digimon was destroyed. Tai was somewhere assessing damage, and Cody and Davis were grinning, but the rest was somber. They knew that Devimon was a mere champion, and while it was good to have one gone, they would only face greater foes. Stella saw her chance, and began to slip away with Tigaramon, who de-digivolved back to Feymon, on her shoulder. But before she could make it into the shadows of the forest, Tai stepped out from behind a tree, arms crossed, a slight smile on his face.

"Did you really think I'd let you sneak away? Come on Stella."

She opened her mouth, but had nothing to say, so she just looked at the ground. Tai walked over to her and pulled her into a hug, whispering "I'm sorry" into her ear. She gave in, and slightly collapsed into him, legs unsteady from the fight. As Tai accepted her weight, he couldn't believe his luck that she was here. He had immediately volunteered to go when Electomon had found them, saying that Primary Village was under attack, and Izzy had split up the group so each half had an equal amount of power, and they had come as fast as they could. The first thing he saw was Stella, tackling a Bakumon to the ground before wrestling it. He knew that a simple sorry wouldn't be enough, but with everyone around it was the best he could do. He heard voices, and released Stella gently, who was still avoiding looking directly at him.

Kari and TK walked up, took one look at the scene before them, and nodded to each other, exchanging their suspicions through a look. Kari guided Stella away to look at her arm, and TK went to talk with Tai. "So… Tai. Got something to tell me?" he asked.

Tai looked at Stella walking away with Kari, and shook his head. "Nah, just happy that Stella turned up here. Who knows if we would've ever found her."

"Yeah, true. She sure is interesting, huh?"

"You can say that again. I've never met anyone like her. She's brave, and stubborn, and so frustrating sometimes. But she's beautiful and just...just amazing. But also infuriating and extremely vexing" He glowered at TK laughing. "What, TK?"

"So now you know what dealing with _you_ is like. You are extremely stubborn and infuriating. No wonder you like her."

"Uhhhh…"

"So you don't like her?"

"I like everyone. Hey, shut up!"

TK was cracking up, holding his sides with tears in his eyes. "I have never seen you so awkward around a girl before. This is great." He laughed for a few more minutes, and under Tai's glare, straightened up, and asked if he knew the real reason why she left.

Tai looked down, and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Yeah… she confessed something to me and I kinda blew up at her. She may never forgive me. I'm not sure what to do. Like I said, she isn't like most girls, she isn't throwing herself at me. I'm surprisingly lost."

"Well, just make up for being an ass. Show her she means something to you." Agumon came up, calling them over, and ending the conversation. They walked over to hear Andromon thanking all of them for coming to their aid, and that Gennai was sending Izzy some program that would help protect the primary village in the future. Kari was telling Stella, now sporting a white bandage on her upper arm along with Tai's jacket still on her shoulders, that the rest of the group was still going trailing the army, and they were going to have to catch up.

"Well, Gennai said that I just have to transfer this program to you, Andromon, and then you can set it up. Basically, it provides a similar kind of protection as the hideaway trees do. Any Digimon with corrupt or evil data will simply just not see the village, and have no desire to come near it. However it is not perfect, and entirely possible that it could be broken by a powerful digimon, but it's the best we can do." Izzy stated, typing furiously on his computer.

"Well, we should head out. I know it's almost dark, but the moon is still pretty full and we need to get moving. We can always stop along the way if needed, there's plenty of cover." Cody said, and Davis nodded.

"Well…. I should get going then," Stella tried to get up, but was foiled by TK gently pushing down on her shoulders, and Kari grabbing her hand.

"Stay. Trigaramon is a good fighter, and we could use her around. And more importantly, we were all worried about you, especially Tai," TK said to Stella, who opened her mouth to argue but he cut her off "And we aren't taking no for an answer, Feymon already told Patamon she wants to stay."

Feymon nodded. "Stells, were staying with them. No more lone wolfing it. I like being around other digimon and humans!"

"Fine, I see I'm out numbered. I guess we stay." Stella said quietly, and Kari smiled. The group gathered their digimon, said their goodbyes, and began walking in the setting sunlight.


	10. Chapter 10

This is more of a filler chapter but I enjoyed writing it! I own nothing but my own characters, the usual.

Leaving Primary Village was difficult for everyone. They wanted to stay and help clean up the aftermath of the battle, but at the same time understood that they needed to rejoin with the rest of the group. They were all tired, especially Stella, who had been fighting for a few hours before the others had showed up and she was still unsteady on her feet. She walked a bit behind the group trying not to just sit down, and everyone else walked in silence for a few hours, trying to get as far as they could before the sun set. Just as it was beginning to vanish into the treeline, Gatomon pointed to a cluster of trees. "That looks like a good place to camp out."

Agreeing, the group headed over, crawling under brambles and branches into a dip in the land. Trees surrounded them on all sides, and there was plenty of space for everyone to be comfortable.

"I'll go get some firewood," Stella muttered, before turning back the way they came in. "I'll be back soon."

"Wait!" Izzy exclaimed, "You're falling asleep on your feet, and look extremely beat up. Tai, why don't you go with her?"

Tai blinked. "Uhh… does she want company?"

Stella hesitated, and shook her head yes, before vanishing. Tai followed her, and when he emerged saw her standing a few feet away, looking up at the stars, holding his jacket in her hands. "Here, this belongs to you," she said, shoving it towards him as he walked over.

"No, keep it. You lost your jacket and I don't need it. If I get cold I'll just give Agumon a piggy back ride, he's like a furnace!" Tai laughed at his own joke, and caught a smile flash on Stella's face as he draped the jacket over her shoulders.

Pulling the jacket on, she walked further into the trees, with Tai following. They were quiet while they gathered firewood, mostly because neither of them knew what to say. As they walked back towards the campsite, Tai stopped Stella, put down his firewood, and took a deep breath.

"You know, I didn't tell anyone. I wouldn't dream of it. I'm sorry for how I reacted. I didn't really want you to leave. That was the last thing I wanted. I was upset and it just came out." She looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "I understand why you lied. But I don't want anyone else to have your crest. It's yours. And I don't want to fight alongside anyone else. I'm sticking with you. And I promise your crest will glow someday. Can you trust me?"

She ducked her head, and slowly responded. "I'm sorry I lied Tai. I didn't know what to do. And you have every right to tell the others my secret. I don't have to stay around."

Tai pulled her locket out of his pocket and closed the distance between them. "Get it through your head Stells. I want you here. You aren't going anywhere, and neither am I." He placed the locket around her neck. "This belongs to you. Take care of it."

She shifted the bundle of sticks into one arm, and gently touched the locket with the other. Looking up at Tai, she smiled briefly before whispering, "Thank you" and heading back to the campsite. Tai gathered his sticks and followed.

The next few days went about the same. The group woke up and would walk all day, trying to catch up to the group ahead. At night they took shifts keeping watch, and trying to get sleep. They walked half the night every other day to make up on the distance.

Soon they came out of the forest and began walking along the ocean. TK and Kari walked together at the back of the group, trying to be sneaky holding hands. Everyone let them believe they were doing a good job, until Tai couldn't take it, and informed TK that they were really bad at hiding the fact they were dating, and if he ever hurts his sister that he will pay dearly. Kari responded for TK, by shoving Tai out of the way and announcing "TK would never hurt me, so stop being such a big brother and go stare at Stella some more," effectively silencing Tai.

Ever since their talk, she had become a whole new person. With the burden of her secret lifted somewhat, and the trust that Tai wouldn't tell anyone, her real personality shone. She was constantly smiling, and laughing. She was still wary, and avoided talking about herself too much, and never mentioned anything about her past. But she wasn't pulling away from others as much, and was trying to get to know the group. She even showed them that she could hold a handstand, balancing on her hands for over a minute while contorting her legs into all different shapes. On the fifth day, they caught up with the rest of the group, all who were ecstatic to see Stella back with the group, and actually consistently in a good mood.

There was only one problem; the army and every evil digimon had vanished, and were reappearing all over the digital world, creating havoc with one of the resurrected digimon leading each group. They were at a loss of what to do. Split up and take on the digimon, or move as a group and take them down one by one? It reminded all the older digidestined of the time they fought the dark masters, even more so since two of them were once again their foes. The problem was they had no idea how much stronger each digimon was now.

In the end, they decided to stick together, since splitting up never ended well. Once Matt and Sora ended up stuck in a black hole of depression, and another time Kari, Ken and Yolei ended up in the Dark Ocean. Overall, just not a good idea to separate, as bad things happen, was how Tentomon put it. After a few days of meaningless walking, they happened upon a giant house on the ocean. It was right on the water, with a wide beach and small cliff jutting out into the water, about two stories up.

"Guys, let's spend the night here, it's been awhile since we got to sleep in an actual building. And we should take a day of rest, we don't want the Digimon to be unable to fight," Sora piped up from the back of the group, where she was talking with Stella and Palmon.

"And maybe they'll have some bikinis and we can have some fun tomorrow!" Mimi exclaimed.

Joe rolled his eyes at his girlfriend. "Mims, maybe we should focus on defeating evil digimon and less on tanning."

"Oh, and you know where the closest one is, do you?" Mimi countered, hands on her hips, "Because _I_ _for one_ , do not. And a day off would be good for the digimon, and for us."

Matt stepped in, voicing his thoughts, "I agree with Mimi and Sora. It would be good for the Digimon to rest some, especially those who went to help at Primary Village, they have been moving even more than the rest of us to catch up. Hands up if you agree?"

All hands went up, except for Stella and Joe. Joe, because he was sulking about Mimi getting mad, and Stella just appeared to not be paying attention and talking to Feymon instead. Looking up and blinking, she raised her hand while asking what was going on. Biyomon filled her in, and she nodded and raised her hand higher.

Everyone was happy to get a bed that night. And as per the Digital World, there were oddities galore. There was a working washing machine, so clothes could be washed, and there were PJ's, plus bikinis and boardshorts, just as Mimi had hoped. Apparently they had stumbled upon an old resort that somehow had been transported from Earth, most likely years ago when the veil between the words was thin.

Everyone settled in to eat the rations they had, and afterwards Stella wandered upstairs and came padding back in grey sweats that were cinched at the ankles and a purple sports bra. "I'm doing some yoga, if anyone would like to join," she announced "but you might want to change."

The girls all joined, and with the exception of Joe, the guys all declined, choosing instead to check out the beach. Soon everyone was tired, and they settled in to bed. The next morning came, and Tai, wearing navy board shorts wandered outside with a red cut out one piece clad Sora to see Stella, wearing a matching teal and purple bikini surf top and bottoms, at the top of the cliff, looking down at the water.

"Stella! Please don't do what it looks like you're doing!" Sora exclaimed, waving her hands to get Stella's attention. Stella looked her way, waved, and backed up. Taking a running start, she jumped out off the cliff, and arms up, flew down into the water, causing a giant splash.

"Whats with all the noise?" Matt asked, wandering outside in a pair of black swim trunks. Behind him was TK in pale green ones, holding Kari's hand, who was wearing a pink triangle top and tie bottoms.

Tai pointed at the small object that had just broken the surface. "Stella apparently cliff jumps. And Sora does not approve"

Matt laughed, and hugged Sora from behind. "Too bad, I was thinking of going off that next, only backwards and blindfolded." Sora pinched his arm and he picked her up, running to the water's edge before dumping her in the shallows. She jumped up and started chasing him, accidently knocking over Cody, in dark grey shorts.

"Joe, if you even _think_ of doing that, you will regret it." Mimi stated, before laying a towel down in the sand and throwing sunglasses on. She was wearing a white strapless bikini, and Joe was in light grey shorts with a blue tank top on. Davis, in orange trunks, started a game of volleyball with yellow-shorts clad Ken and Yolei, in a purple one piece. Wearing purple and grey trunks, Izzy joined Davis's team.

Tai walked to the water's edge to greet Stella as she came walking out of the waves. She squeezed the excess water out of her hair, brushed the water off a small tattoo that matched her crest decorating the space below her left collarbone, and smiled. "Hey. You guys are finally up."

"What do you mean? It's only 8 am! That was an impressive jump there."

"I've been up since 6. Did yoga, some swimming and cliff jumping," she grinned, "want to jump with me?"

Before he could answer, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the cliff. "I don't know…. It's kind of a far ways down," he said as she dragged him up the incline.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you no longer possessed the crest of courage. Come on! Don't you trust me?"

"Of course, and jerk! Just for that, I'm jumping. But we jump together." They came to the top of the cliff, and she led him to the spot she ran from. "Just leap. Don't think. Close your eyes, throw your arms up, and slightly bend your knees."

Keeping hold of her hand, he counted down, "Three, Two, One, GO!" Running together, they jumped off the edge, Tai gripping her hand. He closed his eyes, and felt the wind rush past his face, and a few seconds later he hit the water, and their hands broke apart. Sinking down towards the bottom, he kicked his legs and started swimming back to the surface. Breaking it, he took a deep breath and started laughing.

"Stella?"

"Turn around."

Turning around, he saw her smiling, treading water like a pro. "Lets swim! Come on!" She called, and dove back under. Tai followed, and opening his eyes, saw her below him swimming and spinning around, looking completely at home. She turned, saw him looking at her, and smiled. They swam for a while, Stella telling him about surfing back home and her favorite beaches.

They swam back to shore together and wandered upon the end of the volleyball game, which had turned very intense. Yolei and Ken were one point ahead, and Izzy apparently had hidden his talents at volleyball, and spiked the ball to tie the game. With the game on the line, the ball flew back and forth, with everyone picking sides, except Mimi, who was tanning, and Stella, who chose to lay in the sand and let the waves wash over her legs. In the end, Davis and Izzy were triumphant, and Yolei stalked away, mad. The rest of the day passed with everyone blissfully relaxed. Stella vanished into the water for a few hours, body surfing and freediving. The digimon all spent it resting, knowing they may not get rest for a long time to come. As it got dark, everyone headed inside, happy with how the day had gone.


	11. Chapter 11

Hehe accidentally posted chapter 12 as both chapter 11 and 12 luckily MorlockVonBaron pointed out that mistake... thanks! I'll repost 11 and 12 in the correct order. I own nothing.

That night, Stella lay in bed, wide awake. For the first time in years, she felt at home. And like she was with people who cared about her. But something was still missing.

"Feymon?"

"Yeah Stella?"

"I think we need to leave."

"Not this again…."

"No, not because I'm running, or I'm scared. I don't know if I can make this thing glow without digging down deep inside of my own heart. I'm not sure I can do that here. I'm not even sure that's what I need to do. But I need to make this glow. I don't want to let Tai down, or myself, or you, or anyone. And now that I'm starting to feel like my crest glowing is a possibility, I need to try any way I can to make it glow. Maybe being alone with the hope it will glow will be enough "

Feymon sighed. "Well, if that's what you think you need to do… let's go before I try to talk you out of it."

Quietly, the two got up, and after Stella got dressed she tiptoed downstairs, carrying her boots and socks in her hand. She had a grey backpack with some food and supplies hanging off her shoulders. Making it outside, she relaxed, only to see a figure step out of the shadows on the porch. It was Tai, looking annoyed.

"Did you really think you'd sneak away on me again? It might have worked the first time… but it didn't work the second time, and it sure as hell isn't going to work this time. Damnit, Stella. Why do you keep trying to leave? Don't you see that we all want you here? How much I want you here? You belong here. With us. With me. And I promised you that you wouldn't be alone and I intend to keep that promise, whether you like it or not."

Stella looked at Tai, his arms crossed, brown eyes glaring at her with frustration. She waited until he was done, and began speaking.

"Tai, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to fix what got fucked up in me years ago. I don't want to let you down. Please, understand how hard this is for me. Being here, having people that truly care for me, it's amazing. But there's something blocking me from fully giving in. Maybe going out on my own to figure it out is what I need to do, maybe not. But I'm not running. I don't want to leave, especially not leave you."

He walked down the steps, closer towards her. "Then don't leave. Stay. Let me help you."

Stella backed up, putting distance back between them. "This isn't your burden. Okay, the crest part and saving the world is, but figuring out how to get it to glow isn't. I can't give that to you to deal with."

Tai was silent for a minute, hands in his pockets, looking at her. Stella couldn't look away, and returned his gaze, wondering what he was thinking. Removing his hands from his pockets, he ran his right hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "What if I wanted that burden? What I said back to you, when you first told me about your crest, I meant. Haven't you noticed? I really like you. I don't want you to leave because you're a digidestined, and we need you, but I mostly don't want you to leave because I want you around me. All the time. I want to know everything I can about you and make you smile and laugh. You are spectacular. Stay, for me, if not anything else."

"Tai…." Stella had no idea what to say. "I'm a giant mess. You really don't want any part of it. I like you too, but I can't do that to you, _because_ I like you. Alot."

She gathered up her boots in her arms, wishing they were on so she could get out of this horrible moment. Tai was basically begging her to stay, to let him help her, but she knew that wasn't the right thing to do, and she just wanted to get away before she started crying. "Stella." She looked up, and Tai was right in front of her.

He uncrossed her arms, letting her boots fall into the sand, and used his foot to sweep them to the side. Next, he gently took off her backpack, and dropped it in the sand. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he looked down into her eyes. "Let me make something very clear to you. Stella, you aren't going anywhere. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not the day after. You are staying right here, with me."

Before Stella could respond, he slid one arm around her waist, the other to the back of her neck, and pulling her in, kissed her. After a few seconds, he felt her arms wrap around his waist, and she kissed him back, pulling herself as close to him as she could, standing on her toes.. Tangling his hand in her hair, all he could think was that he should've kissed her the moment they met.

They stayed there for what felt like forever, kissing deeper and deeper, Tai practically lifting Stella off the ground, until they heard someone yell jokingly from a window: "Get a room!"

That broke the spell placed upon them, and they broke apart, and Tai leaned his forehead against hers, eyes closed. Then releasing her, he bent over and picked up her backpack and boots, slinging the bag over his shoulder. He reached for her, and taking her hand, guided her back towards the house. "Come on, let's go back inside."

They sat downstairs all night, talking. Eventually she fell asleep leaning against him, and he followed soon after, leaning on her head. The next morning, they were awoken by the sun streaming through the window. Stella stirred, and opened her eyes to see Tai yawning and stretching his arms. Seeing she was awake, he grinned, and kissed her. They were interrupted by Matt making his way outside, pausing to dryly comment: "Well now, don't you two look cozy. I see you didn't take my advice last night," before going out the door with Gabumon. Stella blushed, and tried to pull away, but Tai shook his head and kept kissing her, pulling her into his lap.

Soon after they heard "Gross Tai, I don't need to see this. Come on." from Kari, who was walking downstairs with TK, and something about how Izzy owed Sora $5. Tai finally let Stella go, who pinched his arm and got up, walking outside with him following her. Outside, Matt was deep in conversation with a Flymon and a Sniymon. After a few minutes of conversation, they flew off and Matt turned around, a grim look on his face. Tai gave him a quizzical look, and Mat shook his head, signaling he wanted to wait for the whole group. About a half an hour later, everyone was gathered, and Matt began.

"So, remember how we thought that the dark digimon had broken apart into groups? Turns out they've gathered back together. At, get this, Myotismon's old castle. Guess they realized that they did better working together, which is bad for us. That or they want into our world again. Which isn't a much better idea."

"Yeah," Izzy said, looking worried, "Last time we fought these digimon it was either a combined effort, or a stroke of luck that allowed us to beat them. And that was fighting one at a time. Now, we have to fight three of them at once, and while the addition of four champion digimon, three of which can also digivolve too two different armor digimon, those odds still aren't good."

"What we need is to find the tenth digidestined with a crest. But the digital world is such a big place, and we don't have any idea where to start" Yolei said gloomily. Stella felt the words coming up, and squeezed Tai's hand. He turned to look at her, and realized what she was going to do. She stood up, and he with her, refusing to release her hand in a show of silent support. "I have something everyone needs to hear." She paused, and felt Feymon's tail wrapped around her ankle, and Tai's hand holding hers.

"I know who the 10th digidestined is." Fumbling with only one hand, she opened her locket and held her crest up, "It's me, I bear the crest of faith. And please, just let me explain before you all go off on me."

And so she explained. She told them what she had told Tai, about her family, her uncle, and her inability to make her crest glow. She told them how she no longer held the faith she did when the she was chosen as the bearer, and how much it pained her to keep the secret.

"That's why I was so distant. And why I left. I had told Tai, and was afraid he would tell all of you, and that you would all hate me. I really am sorry, I'm trying to do what I can to make it glow, but it has never glowed once in the 9 years I've had it. If you want me to leave, I understand. But I never meant to deceive you, not once. " She cast her eyes down, and Tai wrapped his arm around her shoulders, showing that he would stand by her.

There was silence for a few minutes. Everyone was soaking in the new information they had just been given, and battling internally over how to take it. Kari was first to decide. In typical Kari fashion, she stood up and walked over to Stella. She shoved her brother's arm off of Stella's shoulders, gave her a giant hug. TK came up behind her, and placed a hand on Stella's shoulder and smiled. Over the next few minutes, almost everyone either said they understood, they were just happy to have found the person they were looking for (in Izzy's case), or that they were happy she came forward. Matt wasn't so happy, and it took some pointed words from Sora for him to tell Stella he was happy she came forward.

Things got awkward, and Veemon attempted to ease the awkwardness by discussing what their next step should be: "Guys, let's get moving! We probably shouldn't linger in one spot for too long, and I'm itching to get going! Who's with me?"

His questions was met with silence at first, then followed by the digimon all enthusiastically agreeing, and the Digidestined soon followed suit. Gathering the provisions they could find in the house, they set off. And while everyone had said that they weren't upset with Stella, except for Matt, they weren't all as eager to talk with her as before. She walked at the back of the group, and if it wasn't for Tai, she would've walked alone. But he grabbed her hand and squeezed it, whispering, "I'm here," letting her know that she wasn't alone. Ken also approached, letting her know that if he can make the crest of kindness glow after everything he did, she shouldn't lose hope.

And so with Matt and Gabumon leading the way, everyone walked on, heading into what would undoubtedly be the biggest, and most difficult fight of their lives.


	12. Chapter 12

AAANNNDDD another chapter! Really on a roll here. Maybe I'll just update the whole story now. Or not. Who knows? Well read and review and enjoy, And as usual, I own nothing. Besides Stella, Feymon and her digivolutions

Izzy squinted at his computer. It had been two days since they had left the beach house, and Stella had admitted to her lie. He got it, he kept secrets from people, but this was a frustrating situation, and it was important that they defeated the enemy. But at least she came forwards. He was currently trying to figure out which direction they should head. Ever since Spiral Mountain, things weren't all in the same place as they originally had been.

While Izzy studied maps Gennai had sent him, the rest of the group sat in small circles, talking. Everyone at this point had mostly accepted Stella's lie, and slowly everyone had begun treating her as before. Matt, however, was still pissed, at her and at Tai. He couldn't believe Tai had kept this huge, game changing secret from the group, and from him. They were best friends, and he didn't like that Tai chose to hide the secret of a girl they barely knew. And he was furious at Stella, for obvious reasons.

"Matt." He looked up to see Tai standing in front of him with Sora, and Stella standing a few feet behind, looking worried. "Dude, you've avoided me since we left. You pissed or something?"

Matt stood up. "You know what, I am. So why don't you just walk back over to that lying girl and let me be."

At this, Sora sighed, and shook her head, and Tai started to look pretty mad.

"Tai, Stella kept a secret that affects everyone here, in this group. That affects both worlds. And because you wanted some ass," Sora winced and Stella's expression went from worried to hurt, "or something, you decided to keep it for her. And you expect me to just be okay with that? No way. I don't give a fuck what fucked up shit happened in her life, this is bigger than her, or any of us."

Tai glared at Matt, "I did the right thing Matt. If she doesn't believe she can trust people, do you really think that blabbing her secret would help with that? And she came around and told everyone when she felt comfortable. I doubt she would be here now if I had told her secret to everyone. And where the hell does me 'wanting some ass' come from? That has nothing to do with this." Seeing where this was going, Mimi jumped up, with her help Sora tried to quickly guide Stella away from the arguing friends, but she couldn't stop her from hearing Matt's response.

"Yeah, sure it doesn't. You're telling me that the guy who has his pick of any girl he wants in school, and takes full advantage of it, suddenly isn't interested in that? That he actually wants a relationship, and to do the right thing? Come on Tai, you can pull every trick in your book on her, but don't try to trick me. You've known her less than two months. You've known me years. We need to focus here. Trying to play nice isn't going to save either world. Just screw her and be done with it. Or does she actually think you're interested in her? Maybe I should tell her about all the conquest's you've told me about."

Matt would've kept going, but Tai's fist connecting with his jaw put a halt to his rant. Falling over, he scrambled to his feet to see Tai storming away with Agumon and Izzy close behind. Blood boiling, he went to go after Tai, but TK grabbed his arms, muttering, "Bro, fighting isn't going to help either. Come on, let's go talk and calm down."

Walking down the shore a bit, the two blonde brothers sat, Matt rubbing his jaw while glaring at the water. "Fucking Tai. Why is he messing around with this chick anyways. He's just going to do what he always does, make a girl think he really cares, and then after he gets what he wants or he gets bored he drops them. And as pissed I am she didn't tell us from the get-go, we need her. He can't just screw her and be done with it."

TK was quiet for a few minutes. "I think that all three of you were at fault, and all three of you caused this situation. Yes, Stella should have come forwards from the beginning. But bro, we're an intimidating group to encounter, and she hasn't exactly had good experiences with people. Give her credit for coming forwards at all. Try to not be so harsh towards her. She's actually a cool person. You two would get along if you actually had a conversation."

He continued talking, Matt silently listening. "And Tai shouldn't have punched you, but you did provoke him. Maybe he should've told us what she told him, but I see where he's coming from. And I think this girl is different. Those 'conquests' of his are usually girls who throw themselves at him at parties, and you know he will give them a chance. They just aren't right for him, and she's completely the opposite. Tai told me that she left because he blew up after she admitted something to him, which I guess was about her crest. She isn't the usual college bimbo trying to become the girlfriend of the star soccer player. Matt, the guy BLUSHED when I asked him about her, and when Kari told him off for being overly protective and to go stare at Stella, he turned even redder. Plus, think about how panicked he was when she vanished. And come on, either way it wasn't cool to say all that in front of her."

Now that his chin wasn't pounding, Matt saw TK's points, but was unwilling to admit he was in the wrong. He simply muttered "Whatever, I thought that big brother's were supposed to give the advice, not the other way around," and TK rolled his eyes.

"The dick actually had the nerve to say that shit in front of Stella?" Furious, Tai was pacing back and forth with Izzy and Agumon watching, trying to squeeze a word in. "Who the fuck gave him that right? I swear, if this ruins things between Stella and myself, I'm going to kick Matt's ass."

Izzy cleared his throat, "Well, Tai, you do kind of have-"

Tai cut him off. "I mean, sure, I haven't been the relationship type, and _maybe_ it appears I have been a bit of a player to people, but maybe I just hadn't met the right girl? Maybe meeting someone who didn't just want to get with Tai the Soccer Player and who actually could hold a decent conversation, who was smart, and could handle her own in a fight was what I was waiting for? Who I actually found interesting without the help of tequila? Just because he lucked out with Sora doesn't mean that the rest of us are so blessed. And Matt knows all of this. He totally blew it all way over the top."

"Tai, if i might just say-" Agumon attempted to speak, but Tai started up again.

"I didn't tell anyone for a reason, I promised. And if I broke it, how would that look? Not good to the _holder of the crest of faith, who has ZERO faith_. She's going to hate me now. She finally let me in, and thanks to Matt I'm back out again. She isn't an idiot. I would've given up every girl I've hooked up if it meant that I could've met her sooner. And I know that the digital world and our world are screwed if we can't win. I take this really fucking seriously. How could he not think I do? I'm the leader, I worry about what we're going to do every day. FUCK!" Tai punched his fist into a nearby log, then massaged his knuckles, wincing.

Izzy, knowing that Tai was done, or at least on a short break, hurried to speak before he got going again. "Tai, you should've told us. I get why you didn't tell the whole group, but you should've at least told myself, or Matt, or Sora. And you do have a reputation as a bit of a player, even if we know it isn't what people…. Eventually Stella would have found out. It shouldn't have been like this but you would have to have told her at some point, if you were really serious."

Tai opened his mouth but Izzy kept going, "But you must like her a lot, I don't remember the last time you punched Matt that hard. Which you shouldn't have done, even if he was provoking you. You're both blockheads. So go sort it out. We need you two working as a team." Agumon nodded his agreement.

Tai glowered at Izzy, and muttered "I'll apologize when that jackass apologizes to Stella, and to me," before stalking away. Izzy and Agumon exchanged sighs, and followed him back to the group.

Inland, Stella, Mimi, and Sora sat on the top of a hill overlooking the shoreline. They could see the Tai and Matt off talking to the others, and Sora was touching her jaw, feeling sympathy pain for her finacé. _Poor Stella. That sure wasn't what any girl wants to hear about the guy she has feelings for. And Matt kinda attacked her. I see why he was upset, but he should've just talked with her._ "Was all that true?"

Sora started, her thoughts interrupted by Stella. "Huh?"

"Is what Matt said true? Am I really just a number for Tai? All we've done is kiss, but we haven't had time alone. If we did would he just want to…. 'screw' and be done with me? And Matt hates me, doesn't he? I know I should have come forwards sooner, but I was scared." She drew circles in the sand with her finger.

Sora spoke up: "Matt doesn't hate you. He's just, well, being Matt. He can be a bit standoffish and an ass at times. He was just frustrated that you didn't share this before, and I think he's a little hurt that Tai didn't share with him. They've been friends for years. I understand you were scared and didn't want to come forwards right away. I was the same way with my crest. I hid away from the others and thought my crest was stupid because I didn't think i was capable of love. Eventually I realised that I should've just come forwards in the beginning instead of hiding."

"You're avoiding the main question here."

"Erm…."

"That's my answer then. Damnit, I'm so stupid. I let someone in and this happens. Seems about right." Stella gently punched the sand in a slow motion over and over again. Mimi rubbed her back and looked at Sora, silently imploring her to say something else.

"No, it's not that. Tai… Tai is Tai. Matt was right, he does have girls chasing after him left and right, just like Matt. But the difference was that Matt had me before those girls came along, so he never bothered acting on it like Tai has. I think Tai was a bit jealous that I ended up with Matt, just because the three of us were always so close. He never had romantic feelings for me, but still, seeing us together reminded him he didn't have anyone. And when he got to college and became a starter on the team, girls were all over him. It didn't hurt that he's handsome, and nice. But I think that he wanted someone he could share the digital world with, and since that was out of the question, just settled for filling that space with these girls. But you're not one of those girls. You're tough, smart, and you're not throwing yourself at him. He was so distraught when you left, and wanted to go looking for you then and there, but we told him that it would be better to wait until morning, and see if you came back. Please don't hold what Matt said, with the intention of getting Tai pissed, against him."

"I don't know, what if you're wrong? I'm not exactly Miss. Perfect either." Stella told Sora and Mimi everything she had told Tai on the beach, including the details she had left out when she came clean with the group. "And so, that's why I'm so shut off. But what if Tai just wants a quick hook up? That's not my game. I don't know if I can handle that possibility. Gods be damned, I really like him too. I felt safe for the first time in years with him."

Stella, sweetie," Mimi said gently, "don't let what Tai's past is affect what you want. He's a guy, so he automatically is going to fuck up. But I can tell he doesn't look at you the same way he did girls at school. We all visited, and saw how it went. Matt was upset and blew it out of proportion a bit. He was never interested, and was usually drunk when he talked to any girl. If he wasn't at a party drinking half a bottle of tequila, he ignored any and every girl. But he wants to be around you. He looks at you when you aren't looking like Matt looks at Sora, TK looks at Kari, and Ken looks at Yolei. And how I assume Joe looks at me."

"Thanks…. I just don't know." The three girls sat there, until Mimi stood up and held out her hand.

"Well, until you know what you want, you can stick with us." Stella smiled and took Mimi's hand. The three girls linked arms, and walked down the hill.


	13. Authors note

Hello! So I had to re-upload chapters 11 and 12 due to a slight mixup on my part... hehe. I accidentally updated chapter 12 as both 11 and 12, therefore skipping over a chapter. So incase you were confused by that, this is just a note that I fixed it. Sorry about that, and will update chapter 12 within the next few days!


	14. Chapter 13

It's been a while... here ya go!

I own nothing but my own creations

The three groups all got back to camp at the same time, right as it was getting dark, and awkwardness ensued. Matt and Tai refused to look at each other, although that was preferred over fighting. All Tai cared about was talking to Stella, who was sitting as far away as possible from him. Davis nudged Cody, saying how this is why he's focusing on soccer and not girls. Izzy, trying to diffuse the situation, started rambling about the maps and how he thinks he found the best way to approach the castle from their current location.

"Izzy, dude, no one cares right now." Davis announced. "We're all just waiting to see if Tai punches Matt again." That remark earned him glares from Yolei, Ken, and Sora, along with most of the digimon.

"Very funny Davis," Tai muttered. "Izzy, go on."

"Well, it appears that Myotismon's castle is right alongside a lake. If we continue in the same direction we've been heading for another day or so, we should hit a river that is fed by the same lake, and we can follow the river up through this forest to get to said lake, and in turn, the castle. That should also offer some protection from any spies they have to look out for us."

"That sounds like a good plan, so why don't you all get some sleep? I'll take first watch," Stella said quietly, "It's the least I can do for causing trouble." She walked to the edge of the water and sat down with Feymon, who curled up against her side.

"Here, I'll join you, better to have two sets of eyes! And I want to double check the maps to make sure I didn't miss anything." Izzy said as he gathered up his computer.

Tai started walking over, with the intention of making Stella hear him out, but Sora stopped him with a shake of her head, Mimi at her side.

"Honey, give her space. We stuck up for you." Mimi said, giving him a wink.

Soon, everyone appeared to be asleep, and Stella and Izzy were sitting in silence, except for clicks coming from Izzy's keyboard. Stella stared at the water, Izzy started talking, slowly.

"You know, Matt over exaggerated a fair amount earlier. Tai didn't just hook up with those girls, well most of them. And there weren't tons of girls. He would generally take a girl on a date or two if he woke up with them after a party, but it never lasted more than a week or so. And then he'd spend a few weeks flirting and talking up girls at parties, but wouldn't take any of them home for a few weeks. Like he was going through the motions but never really wanted to do anything. He got the player reputation in part because he's an athlete and because he never stuck with a girl. I doubt he ever met one he really liked. I think he was also jealous of what Matt and Sora had. The three of them were so close, and when they started dating, there was clearly some separation."

"Sora said something like that, and Mimi backed her up." Stella murmured.

"Just don't be too hard on the guy. He was pissed at Matt for saying all of that. He is a good guy. He seems taken with you. That's the first time he's punched Matt over a girl." A ghost of a smile played on Stella's face.

"You all seem to really like him."

Izzy chuckled. "He's Tai. When we first came here years ago, he was the one who stepped up and took the role of leader. He can be a blockhead, and I'm not calling him a genius, but he's had all of our backs. He was such a goofy kid back then, but I guess we all were. He took such a large role being our leader, and made some tough calls that none of us should have had to make. He really grew up here."

"You know, this place isn't nearly as intimidating when you're with a group of people. When I was here alone it was terrifying. Especially when Trigaramon is only a champion and can't digivolve past that level."

"Sora had similar issues with her crest. Eventually it worked, and Birdramon digivolved, so don't worry. And we all were freaked out when we first came here. Being in a group is much better though. Even if we are a bit dysfunctional. I'll keep watch, why don't you go sleep, I have to analyze some more things, and it will take a while."

Stella yawned, stretching her arms overhead, "You know, I don't think I'll argue with you about this." She gently nudged Izzy with her elbow in a silent show of thanks and walked back to the fire.

The next morning, everyone woke up ready to walk. Izzy lead the way with Tai, and Matt walked in the rear with Sora, the two of them arguing softly. Everyone else was jumbled in the middle. Davis was trying to get Joe to bet on who would cave and speak first, Tai, Matt, or Stella or if someone would get punched again. Yolei, Ken, Cody and Mimi were ignoring him, and TK was just walking with Kari and Stella.

A few hours of this passed, and Stella eventually growled, "My God," and sped up to Davis. "This isn't funny. Tai isn't the only one with a temper, and I know how to box. So shut up."

Davis paled, and Joe laughed, patting him on the shoulder as Stella stalked to the back of the group. "See Davis, I told you that was a bad idea."

TK fist bumped Stella, grinning. "That was great. Davis has grown up some, but he's still an idiot."

Stella smiled, then looked back at Matt. "Does your brother hate me? Sora said no but I feel really awful. I never wanted to come between him and Tai, or cause any fights."

"Nah, Matt's just being Matt. He was just frustrated, and he tends to hold on to frustration for a while. That's why Sora is so good for him. She helps level him out, and besides Gabumon, she's the only one who can snap at him and talk sense into him."

"I need to fix this though, it's my fault." With that Stella walked back to Matt, with the intention of apologizing, when the ground shook and everyone fell to the ground.

"Woah! What was that?" Ken exclaimed, "Is everyone okay?"

Groaning and nodding, everyone stood up, only to fall again when the ground shook again, and again. A horrible realization started dawning on the older Digidestined, and no one wanted to bring it up, until Matt finally spoke. "Guys, is it just me or do these sound like footsteps?"

Before anyone could respond, Machinedramon burst through the trees, answering their question. "Digidestined," he rasped, "You go no further. My master commands it. I shall take great pleasure in destroying you."

Izzy sighed and muttered to Joe: "Well, at least we know we're going in the right direction. We always get attacked when we're going the right direction"

Joe nodded while Tai gripped his hands into fists. "Come and get us! We beat you once, and we can do it again! Agumon, Tentomon, everyone, GO!"

 _Agumon warp digivolve to... Wargreymon_

 _Gabumon warp digivolve to... Metalgarurumon_

 _Biyomon digivolve to… Birdramon, Birdramon digivolve to… Garudamon_

 _Gomamon digivolve to… Ikkakumon, Ikkakumon digivolve to… Zudomon_

 _Palmon digivolve to… Togemon, Togemon digivolve to… Lilymon_

 _Tentomon digivolve to… Kabuterimon, Kabuterimon digivolve to… Megakabuterimon_

 _Patamon digivolve to… Angemon, Angemon digivolve to… Magnaangemon_

 _Gatomon digivolve to… Angewomon_

 _Veemon digivolve to… Xveemon_

 _Hawkmon armor digivolve to… Halsemon_

 _Armadillomon digivolve to… Ankylomon_

 _Wormon digivolve to… Stingmon_

 _Feymon digivolve to… Trigaramon_

"Stupid Digidestined. My master has granted me more power than before. You shall not defeat me as easily." As two cannons rose out of his shoulders, Garudamon and Lilymon charged forwards, hoping to delay his attack. _Flower Cannon! Wing Blade!_ Their attacks hit one cannon, while Xveemon, Stingmon and Halsemon attacked the other cannon. While the attacks slowed Machinedramon down, they were unable to stop them.

 _Giga Cannon!_ Two streams of energy shot out of his cannons, both aimed at the digidestined. _Terra Force_! Wargreymon's attack met with the incoming attack, diverting most of it into the sky. The backlash, however, did manage to knock the majority of the Digidestined over into the sand.

The last bit headed right towards Kari, Stella and TK. "No!" Matt yelled, "Metalgarurumon, do something!" But before he had the chance to do anything, Stella shoved Kari and TK out of the way and Trigaramon leapt in front of her, growling _Tigers Flame._ The attack, however, didn't do much, merely slowed it down . The single attack of a champion versus the attack of a mega, even a somewhat weakened attack, was nowhere near a match. Hitting the two, it knocked Trigaramon back into Stella, causing her to di-digivolve into Feymon, sent Stella flying back, banging into a large rock before the two crumpled to the ground.

"Stella!" Tai cried, leaving his digimon to keep fighting while he ran over to her, with TK and Kari right behind him. The ground shook with Machinedramon's footsteps, causing them to half stumble and half run. at any other time Matt would've laughed, but instead he just stared at Stella lying there. _She saved TK and Kari…. Shit. And I completely acted like an ass towards her._ Stella stirred as the three reached her, and she gingerly sat up, bringing one head to her head before sliding back down against the rock. "Ugh…. Feymon, let's not do that again."

"Are you okay?" Tai asked, sliding to a stop in front of her and dropped to his knees as Wargreymon swiped at Machinedramon with his claws, "You really hit that rock hard."

Tk knelt and checked the back of her head while Kari checked Feymon. "She isn't bleeding, and she wasn't knocked out for too long, it might've just been the impact." TK said.

"And Feymon is fine, just sore and out of energy." Kari stated over Machinedramon shooting his _Giga Cannon!_ at Angemon and Lilymon.

Tai appeared not to have heard a word TK and Kari said, instead focusing on Stella and helping her sit up. "Please be okay, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine Tai, really." She shrugged off his hand and tried to stand up, but her legs were shaking and she sat back down. The sounds of the battle intensified, and they turned to look. Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon were attacking head on, and the two angel Digimon were coming at him from the two sides. After a round of attacks, they had Machinedramon backing up slightly. _Gate of Destiny_! Magnaangemon opened his attack behind him, and the two mega Digimon, with the help of Tsunomon, Ankylomon, and Megakabuterimon, pushed Machinedramon towards the gate.

At first, it appeared that Machinedramon would best them. Then all the other Digimon joined in, pummeling him with their attacks. The attacks didn't cause him any physical harm, but they did unsettle him, and the larger Digimon took the chance to charge. They pushed and got him teetering. Machinedramon shot off one more round of _Giga Cannon!_ but he missed, and the attack, coupled with his loss of balance caused him to rock back towards the open gate. With one last _Terra Force!_ , Wargreymon got Machinedramon through the gate, and Magnaangemon quickly shut it.

WIth the imminent threat of a Dark Master out of the way, Joe was able to make his way over to where Stella was. After a quick check, he was able to confirm what TK had suggested. "You're fine Stella, just a bit shaken and banged up. But it doesn't look like you have a concussion, but just take it easy, try not to get thrown around by evil digimon again."

Stella gave him a shaky smile. "No promises there Joe." as everyone else started laughing.

"Here Stells, let me help you up," Tai offered his hands, and Stella sighed, hesitated, and quietly took them. After he got her to her feet and made sure she wouldn't fall, she quietly thanked him and walked towards where Agumon had started a fire and the rest of the group sat.

Everyone sat around in a sullen mood. Joe was first to speak; "You know, we have to be careful. That was close. Even blocking his attack, most of us got knocked over, and Stella really could've gotten hurt. Last time we fought him, it only took Wargreymon one shot to beat Machinedramon. This time, it took the combined effort of most of our Digimon to beat him, and we were lucky there wasn't more damage done."

He pushed his glasses up before continuing. "Plus, we still have Myotismon, who in my opinion is tougher than Machinedramon, and Piedmon will be even tougher. And there's still the mystery digimon."

"You guys can do this." Everyone turned and looked at Stella. "I've seen all of you fight. If anyone can take these guys down, it's all of you together. I mean, megas? Armor Digimon? Ultimates? You guys are spectacular. I believe in all of you."

"Wormon can't digivolve past the champion level either." Ken pointed out.

"Still, Feymon and myself just aren't strong enough. We literally just get in the way and cause problems. That's been made evident in the past few days. We don't want to mess up any dynamics, and we're the odd ones out. You guys have achieved so much. We don't want to be the reason there's a divide here." She got up and walked over to the shoreline and stood there. Matt stood up and walked over to her.

"Don't say that stuff Stella, just because someone was an ass and ran his mouth off doesn't mean that you should feel like you're messing up our team dynamics… I might've been upset but that doesn't excuse saying what I said. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. For lying and for making Tai promise not to spill my secret. I was just worried about how pathetic everyone would think I was."

"How about we both stop apologizing and move on to friends?" Matt smiled.

"Sounds good." Stella gave him a quick hug.

"Just promise me one thing. Don't let what I said about Tai ruin anything. Sora already told me what she said, and she's right. He's not a player. Just a dofus who likes tequila too much and hasn't found a girl worth keeping around." He turned to walk back to Sora. "Until he met you."


	15. Chapter 14

Going on a roll here. I own only my own creations

The next day passed by quickly. With everyone ready to get off the beach and into some more cover, they spent the day walking in order to reach the river Izzy had mentioned. Everyone kept silent, preferring to conserve their energy. Plus, with the sun beating down no one felt much like talking.

Halfway through the day, Tai felt someone next to him, and turned to see Stella walking next to him. She gave a slight smile and brushed her fingers against his. The sun was low in the horizon when Tentomon flew ahead, calling back "I found it guys!"

Everyone found a sudden burst of energy, eager to reach fresh water and hopefully shade. Reaching the top of a hill, they paused. Down below, there was a large river feeding into the ocean, with a steep cliff on the opposite side of the group. This river also marked the end of the open beach, with lush vegetation and a forest starting about 50 yards from where the river and ocean met.

Heading towards the treeline, Gomamon scouted out a spot on the riverbank that was covered and easily defended. With the sun slowly setting, they hurried to get a fire started, food foraged, and everyone settled in. Cody, Joe, Izzy, Gomamon and Tentomon vanished, returning a short time later with a net Wormon had made and given them, now full of fish. After Agumon started a fire, Hawkmon and Veemon started cooking with Yolei supervising.

Meanwhile, Kari was frustrated. She and TK hadn't gotten any sort of time alone since their kiss way back in the forest, and she just wanted some time to talk with him. Plus, who knew when the next chance to have time without fighting on the horizon would be? So, when everyone was distracted, she grabbed TK and shoved him towards the forest, calling back that they were going to look for some more firewood.

"Well someone seems excited to ditch the group," TK observed, grinning as Kari playfully swatted at his arm.

"Oh shut up. We haven't gotten any time alone in forever. I thought you would be excited to get away with your girlfriend." Kart pouted.

TK's grin grew even wider. "Well, I'm very excited to have some time with my _girlfriend_ ," he snickered as Kari blushed as she realized the word she used. "I'm actually a little embarrassed that I didn't think of sneaking off first. What kind of a boyfriend doesn't want to spend time with his beautiful girlfriend?"

She smiled, trying to be casual as she leaned against a tree, brushed hair out of her eyes and crossed her arms. "Well at least we have the same feelings about one another. If not this would've been very awkward."

"Yeah, it only took me a few years to do something about it. Not anymore." He walked over to where Kari was, and leaning in, kissed her. He guided her arms up around his neck and wrapped his arms around her waist. Kari, returning the kiss, locked her arms tighter around his neck and pulled him closer. He opened his mouth, and she followed, both of them eager to deepen the kiss. TK slid his hands up her sides as she kissed his neck, causing him to sigh. He tilted her chin back up so he could kiss her again. "You really are beautiful" he murmured, causing her to slide her hands down his chest and around the small of his back, squeezing tight.

Matt and Sora were walking up the river, hand in hand, just enjoying some peace. "Hard to believe a few months ago we were back in Japan and now we're here, back fighting. I hope that we can defeat every evil digimon. I want to get back to Earth. So we can make a home together."

Matt was about to respond when he heard rustling in the woods. "Come on Sora, let's go check it out. Better make sure it isn't a rogue digimon trying to attack."

Walking through the brush, they walked into a surprising sight. Sora sighed and shook her head, and Matt rubbed the back of his head. They had happened upon TK and Kari, who were ignorant to the fact that they had been discovered. Matt cleared his throat to no avail. He cleared it louder, and all he got in response was for TK to move his hands from the back of Kari's head down to her lower back, pushing her even further against the tree as he pressed himself against her.

"Well, looks like he got his kissing style from you," Sora whispered, giggling. "Lucky for Kari."

Rolling his eyes, Matt picked up a large branch, and banged it against the nearest tree before wolf whistling. This finally got the attention of the two teens, who both turned their heads to see their audience. Kari turned bright red and appeared to shrink an inch or two, while TK just wrapped his arm around her shoulders and turned looking pointedly at Matt. "Yes?"

"Bro, you're lucky that we found you and not Tai. That's his little sister who's face you were sucking. He might be fine with you guys dating, but no brother wants to see his little sister making out. It's weird and all he will see is his baby sis, not a 17 year old teenager. Don't give the poor guy an aneurysm."

"So what? We just pretend we aren't dating? Tai's a big boy, and besides I had to walk in on him making out with Stella." Kari shot back, having recovered from being caught.

"No, just try not to be so… hot and heavy. He is older than you, and the protectiveness you feel towards him is different. He wouldn't be grossed out by the sight like you were. I get it TK, you've been pining after Kari since at least 9th grade but calm it. Besides, we've got a mission and we don't need you two all over eachother. When all this is over you'll have plenty of time to do whatever you want. Just be smart. I don't need to be an uncle yet." Matt grinned wolfishly, causing his brother and Kari to blush. "Let's go back to camp."

Subdued and embarrassed, the two teens followed Matt and Sora, hand in hand. Back at camp, everyone was sitting down to eat. "Where did you go?" Joe asked.

"Oh, just to check around, see what there was." TK responded before changing the subject. "Any more of that fish?"

Settling in for the night, everyone was tired. Tai offered to take first watch, and everyone else passed out, except for Joe and Stella. Joe was worried about what they were going to face, and for Mimi. Last time they fought, she didn't take it easily and wanted to leave the group. He had gone with her to keep her safe, and didn't want her to face the same difficulties as she did last time. He looked at her sleeping, and felt a wave of protectiveness was over him. He loved her, and hoped for her sake none of their friends died during the battles to come. She was too gentle to fight in many more battles and lose those she cared about.

Meanwhile, Stella just wanted to go swimming one last time in the ocean, plus the moon was almost full again and the light was keeping her awake. Quietly, she got up and walked back towards the waves, Feymon following like a shadow. Slipping out of her boots, jeans, Tai's hoodie, and her top, she walked to the waves in her underwear and bra, the olive green lace and fabric making her skin look darker. Her crest hung from her neck in the necklace Mimi had slipped her, saying she shouldn't hide it away anymore.

She closed her eyes, and ran out along the light trail the moon left, diving into the waves. Feymon sat on shore keeping watch, knowing her partner would be safe. Stella had been swimming since before she could walk, and sometimes Feymon swore she was part seal. Floating just beyond the waves, Stella felt at peace. She knew that the battles they would face might be the last thing any of them did, and she wanted one last swim before they left the ocean.

After a while, she reluctantly let the ocean wash her into shore, and trudged over to the river to rinse the salt off of her. She hesitated, and after some thought pulled on Tai's jacket, and took off her underwear and bra, squeezed the extra water out of them. Tai's jacket was long enough to act like a short dress, and she found a rock to sit on, leaning back and swinging her legs. She laid her wet things next to her, both were almost dry. The rest of her clothes were folded up at the bottom of the rock in the sand.

"Mind if I join you?" Startled, she turned and saw Tai standing there. She nodded, while internally she swore, acutely aware that _all_ she was wearing was his hoodie. _Motherfucker. Maybe he won't notice? Oh yeah, because I suddenly acquired shorts. Gods be damned to hell._ She unconsciously shifted so she hid what was next to her, wishing she could reach her bag. Since she often took spontaneous swims in the ocean, she kept a second pair of underwear in her bag so she wouldn't have to wait for a pair to dry before getting dressed. She just was an idiot and rarely changed, preferring to wait for what she was swimming in to dry. When Tai was sitting down, Feymon jumped up and snatched her wet things, putting them out of sight, and grabbed Stella her bag.

Tugging his jacket further down her legs, she asked why he wasn't on guard duty anymore.

Tai blinked. "Well I was on guard duty an hour ago, When Davis came to relieve me I noticed you weren't back yet, and thought I might come to see where you went. And here I found you. Apparently losing track of time. Enjoy the water?"

"How do you know I was swimming?" Stella asked suspiciously.

"Your hair is wet." Tai pointed out. _Plus, I can see halfway up your thigh, so you're clearly not wearing pants._

"Oh."

Tai was completely aware that all she was wearing was his jacket, he wasn't an idiot. There was the blaring lack of denim covering her legs, plus she hadn't done a good job of hiding what had been lying on the rocks next to her. He had come down here just to clear the air with her, and he didn't plan on doing anything else. Not that a thought or two hadn't come to mind.

She was now searching in her small bag, and tucked something in her pocket. "Well, I should really get back to camp now." She announced as she gently jumped off the rock and gathered the rest of her clothes. "I'll see you then."

She attempted to rush off, but Tai grabbed her arm. "Wait. Can we talk?"

Stella sighed, and replied: "Only if you turn around and DO NOT look back at me until i tap your shoulder or give you the clear."

Tai laughed, and obliged. Behind him he heard some soft swearing, followed by the sound of jeans rustling, and Stella falling over. "Can I turn around?"

"Fine." Turning, he saw her sitting down, pulling her boots on after clearly having fallen trying to do it standing up. "What's up?"

"I wanted you to know that I'm not the kind of guy Matt made me out to be. Okay, I haven't avoided all interactions with the female population at school, but I haven't just…. hooked up and never spoken to them again. I'd take them out, because that's what a decent guy does, but nothing ever clicked. Tequila makes you think that you click with a person, then you wake up and realize that they are dull and boring and not someone you want to spend time with. And there was never more than one girl in a month, if not longer. I'd always swear that I was done, then one night I'd just be lonely and drunk and along came so and so who just _LOVED_ me in the game last week. And my loneliness won."

He took her hand and looked pleadingly into her eyes. "I don't want you to think I'm some player that just wants one thing and nothing else. I want to fight by your side, and protect you and make you laugh. Please. Ever since we met I've felt this electric chemistry, and I know you feel it too. You can fight, you swear, and you don't take any shit. You're the most amazing girl ever. If I could go back and forget any and every girl I've met if it would mean I could meet you even a day sooner, I would."

She looked back into his eyes, inching closer. "Tai, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"I'm not entirely sure, maybe that I want your forgiveness. That I want you to say you feel like I do. That you are singularly the most spectacular human to ever exist. That I am fa-" A large blast stopped his words, shooting sand into the air. As the cloud of sand cleared, they saw two Devidramon in the sand, with Phantomon floating in between them.

Tai stepped slightly in front of Stella, glaring up at the digimon before them. "Greetings, Digidestined. What a lovely evening isn't it?" Phantomon's spooky voice echoed on the beach, sending chills down both Stella and Tai's spines.

"My master sends his regards, and regrets he cannot come destroy you himself. But why should one with such power bother with such insignificant beings? He sees no need to even allow you near him and his plans. Now, who shall I start with…. I know. The girl who's crest won't glow." Stella's eyes grew wide, and Feymon jumped in front of her and Tai, snarling.

 _Feymon digivolve to… Trigaramon!_

Tai grabbed Stella's hand, while yelling: "Come on, let's move! Agumon, I need you!".

But Stella dug in her heels, shaking her head. "I won't leave Trigaramon. She's only a champion and I need to be here when she de-digivolves and needs me. She doesn't stand a chance, and I can't let her die because she was stuck with me as a partner."

Stifling the urges to both kiss her and shake her simultaneously, he called for Trigarimon while dragging Stella along. "Take her back to camp! You're no match for these digimon, and the others need to be warned! I'll try to distract them so you can get a head start!" He shoved Stella up onto Trigarimon's back, and turned towards the dark digimon advancing, but was yanked halfway onto Trigarimon's back by Stella just as Trigarimon started running. Helping Tai the rest of the way onto her Digimon's back, Stella helped him gain his balance, and wrapped her arms around him as they ran through the forest.

"AGUMON!" Tai yelled at the top of his lungs. _Where are you buddy?_

Up ahead, they saw a glimmer of silver, and Metalgarurumon burst through the shrubs, with Matt and Sora on his back, followed by Raidrimon, ridden by Davis and Agumon. Garudamon flew above, them, and Agumon jumped off as Tai's Digivice started to glow.

 _Agumon, warp digivolve to… Wargreymon!_

"Wargreymon!" Tai shouted in relief, "Hey guys, great to see you!" Everyone slowed down and met in the middle, with the digimon, save Trigarimon, running off to fight. He ran over to Matt, intending to give him the lowdown, but was stopped by Stella's hand on his arm.

What happened next went by too fast for Tai to comprehend. As Wargreymon shot a _Terra Force_ at Phantomon, Stella raised her hand, and swinging it as hard as she could, slapped Tai straight across the face. Eyes blazing, she poked him in the chest as he put his hand to his cheek. "If you EVER try to do something that stupid again, Agumon will need to find a new partner after I'm through with you. Got it?" Speechless, Tai nodded while Matt started cracking up.

Stella stalked over to Trigaramon, muttering something about how boys were idiots, and climbed up. They headed towards camp, where the rest of the group waited. Turning towards the battle, Davis started cheering as Garudamon and Raidrimon brought down one of the Devidramon. With a _Metal Wolf Claw!_ Metalgarurumon brought the other down. All that remained was Phantomon, who was locked in battle with Wargreymon.

 _Shadow Scythe!_ The attack hit Wargreymon, knocking him back a few feet. Swiftly recovering, Wargreymon, gathering the energy around him, called out _Terra Force!_ before throwing it at Phantomon. The attack was too strong, and Phantomon was obliterated. De-digivolving back to Agumon, he jumped into Tai's arms. "Sorry i didn't get here sooner!"

Tai laughed, "It's okay buddy, but boy was I happy to see you!".

Hearing rustling, everyone turned around to see the rest of the group emerge, with Trigrimon and Stella in the lead. "We figured since we have little use in battle, we decided the best role for us was for me to stay in my champion form. First line of defense, if only a weak one." Trigarimon spoke first.

Matt walked over and high fived Stella, still snickering at Tai's face when she slapped him. "I applaud you my lady."

She laughed. "Well someone had to set him straight. What an idiot, trying to take on all three digimon at once, without Wargreymon."

"Guys, I say we keep going." Joe said, holding Mimi's hand. We still have to defeat two very powerful digimon." Everyone nodded, and they set off upriver.


	16. Chapter 15

Apparently this chapter was all sorts of fucked up, so i fixed it. Enjoy! I only own my own creations.

The group walked all night up what seemed to be a mountain, pushing the pace, pausing only to rest as the sun rose. Trigarimon had de-digivolved back into Feymon after Ken mentioned that it was silly to keep wasting energy when there was no danger, and had spent the night dozing on Tai's shoulder, claiming it was broader than Stellas and she wouldn't have to worry about falling off.

"Okay, let's take a rest," Tai announced, and everyone sank to the ground. Davis and Veemon leaned against each other, Yolei was using Hawkmon as a pillow, and Ken was using Yolei as one. Wormon was splayed out on the ground next to Gatomon and Patamon, who looked dazed. Sora leaned on Matt's shoulder, and Gabumon yawned, causing Agumon to do the same. Joe basically collapsed to the ground, as Mimi had sweet talked him into carrying her the last half an hour, and she was unsurprisingly awake. Gomamon popped out of Joe's bag, also awake, and Palmon leaned against a tree, falling asleep standing up.

TK and Kari had apparently forgotten about Matt's warning, because he had his head in her lap, and she was playing with his hair as she leaned against the same tree as Palmon. Tai was too tired to take notice, luckily for them. Cody used Armadillomon as a backrest, and Izzy had taken the same liberty with Tentomon. Stella curled up into a catlike ball, pulling the hood on Tai's jacket over her eyes, and immediately passed out.

"Sora, can't you carry me the rest of the way?" Biyomon asked, "My wings are sore."

"Sorry Biyomon, I can hardly carry myself!" Sora tiredly replied.

Feymon jumped off of Tai and curled up against Stella, eyes open. "Tai, you can rest if you want too, I'll keep watch." Tai nodded and laid down next to Stella and closed his eyes.

Feymon kept watch for a few hours before waking the others. "It's near noon. I say we start walking. I was thinking, do we want to find any allies to fight with us? Stella and I don't know anyone but I'm sure you guys do."

"No." Stella said quietly.

"Why not?" Cody asked. "Last time you guys fought Piedmon you had allies and it was very helpful from the retellings."

"Do we really want to risk the lives of Digimon? It isn't their war. This is our war. We can't risk innocent lives, even if it is their choice to fight. We're the digidestined, not them. If something happened to any of your Digi friends none of us would ever forgive ourselves." Feymon nodded, along with Mimi and Joe.

"She's right. This is our fight. We can't ask others to fight for us. Before… well before we were kids. We've grown up now. We need to do this on our own." Tai agreed.

Sora sighed. "I guess that makes sense. Plus, you younger Digidestined haven't seen these digimon fight. Venommyotismon was easily defeated by our digivices converging into a single weapon, I hate to say it but Myotismon won't be so easy. Nor will Piedmon. I wouldn't wish the burden of having lost friends on anyone new."

All the Digidestined who had fought the Dark Master's nodded, and the younger group didn't argue. They had struggled enough with the idea of having to destroy any digimon, and really didn't want to see good digimon be destroyed. The decision made, everyone settled in and ate leftovers from the previous night. Tentomon then scouted ahead with Biyomon and Hawkmon. They reported back that this was indeed a mountain, and they were close to a pass that lead into a valley, allowing them to avoid having to climb up and over the peak.

This lightened the mood, and gave a new wave of energy to everyone, except for Mimi and Gomamon, who hadn't been very tired to begin with. Joe grumbled about being too nice until Mimi smiled and gave him a kiss, calling him her knight in shining armor. With the three of them plus Tentomon leading the way, the group's journey continued. Izzy estimated they had three days before they would encounter Myotismon's castle, but he had no clue about the terrain, so he wasn't sure if his estimate would end up correct or not.

The river soon turned inwards, and the ground leveled out, with a gentle slope in some parts. All around they saw digimon at peace, and it was a different experience from what they had been encountering lately. The forest turned into a slight jungle, and it became harder to follow the river due to vines and trees going right up to the water. Nonetheless the Digidestined continued walking. Stella, walking with Tai and Agumon, gently touched the red mark on Tai's cheek and apologized.

"I just got upset that you would throw your own life away just to give me a few extra seconds to get away. They would've destroyed you, and I don't want that to happen. It was a bonehead thing to do."

He smiled, and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. "Nah, Matt's punched me harder than this when I was being a blockhead. But I didn't know you were that concerned with my well-being. And for the record, I would do anything to keep you safe"

Stella was saved from responding by a voice behind them yelling "No one's concerned with your well-being Tai!"

Someone else chimed in "But if you're gone then Agumon's helpless and no one wants Agumon to get hurt because we like him, so we have to make sure nothing happens to you!" The group all laughed, glad that the mood was still light enough for jokes.

As the sun fell behind the trees, the group stopped, ready to make camp for the night. "Hey, check out this!" Izzy exclaimed. He and Cody were standing next to what appeared to be a vertical ridge.

"What's up?" Yolei asked. Cody grinned and stuck his and into the rock, literally into the rock.

"It appears to be some sort of hidden cave," Izzy elaborated. "We can camp here tonight, and no one will have to keep watch! Lucky for us Tentomon wasn't paying attention and brushed against it with his foot. "

Everyone piled inside. It was spacious, with plenty of space for everyone to spread out. Matt and Tai volunteered to go hunt around for some food with their digimon, and Sora went with Joe to get some water. Everyone settled in for some rest.

"So Tai, how's the face?" Matt asked as they walked. He was happy that one of their innate talents as friends was the ability to simply forget about stupid fights. Because they had a lot of stupid fights.

"Sore, she really had some force behind that hit." Tai responded, Matt starting to snicker.

"Yeah, your face was priceless. I've never seen you speechless for that long. The girl deserves a medal or something. Safe to say she is quite taken with you." Matt said though laughing and picking bananas from a nearby tree.

"I don't know. She still might hate me. But we should be thinking about what we will do when we face Myotismon, Piedmon and this mystery Digimon." Tai bent over and picked up what appeared to be some coconuts, dropped from a tall tree by a Floramon. He waved thanks with his free hand. Meanwhile, Agumon and Gabumon were gathering mushrooms from a nearby patch after checking they weren't the mushrooms of forgetfulness.

"Well we have time for that, and we never seem to follow any plan made anyways. Think about it. The only time was when we fought Piedmon but it's totally different this time. I say we just try to keep the Digimon, especially Agumon and Gabumon, as strong and rested as we can."

"And dude, she totally digs you. The slap over your stupidity says it all. I punch you every time you're being an idiot because I care. I can't have my best man doing something stupid before I get married, so it's good having someone else keeping you in check. When are you going to tell you that you love her?"

There was a loud banging as Tai dropped the coconuts. Matt calmly continued picking bananas, waiting for a response. A few moments passed before it came. "Best man? Seriously?"

"Yeah man, after all the shit we've been through I can't think of anyone else."

"But what about TK?"

"What about him? He's my brother and is obviously going to be in the wedding party as a groomsman, but I want you to be my best man. And you're avoiding my question."

"What question?" Tai asked, bending over to pick up the coconuts he dropped. "I'm really honored that you want me to be your best man. Really honored. And I think you're right about keeping the Digimon as rested as we can. And as bad as I feel trying to prioritize our two Digimon, they are the only two megas we have. It kinda feels like favoritism but at the same time it's logical. Let's ask Sora and Izzy tomorrow what they think." Matt's response was to turn and raise an eyebrow, his blue eyes twinkling.

"We can talk Digimon tomorrow, you're right. So you know what question. Do I have to repeat it? You wouldn't be avoiding the subject would you?"

"Nope, not at all. But what makes you think that? I just think that we should come up with a plan right now and get Sora and Izzy's opinion tomorrow."

"Oh, you're SO changing the subject Kamiya. Not going to happen bro. The only other person you would go to that level of stupidity to protect is Kari. You punched me when I went off on her. And you look at her like my brother has looked at your sister for two years." Tai was silent, giving Matt his answer. "Just tell her. Geez. Some courage you got there."

Tai flipped Matt off scowling, causing Matt to blow him a kiss. "Love you too best man." Agumon and Gabumon came up, arms full of mushrooms, wild strawberries and some dandelions. Coconuts back in Tai's arms, they all headed back towards camp, meeting up with Sora and Joe, who were coming back with water.

After a delicious dinner, everyone settled down and got ready to sleep. It was important they got lots of sleep the next few days, especially for the digimon. And they were all tired from traversing the mountain. Mimi was first to wake up, and groaned when she looked outside. It was currently pouring rain, and she could barely see the treeline, and couldn't see the top of the mountain at all.

"If Kari think's I'm leaving this cave while that is going on, she's got fur balls for brains." Gatomon announced, walking up to stand with Mimi, ears back.

"I'm with Gatomon," Feymon announced, jumping on every human to wake them up as she made her way to stand with the other two.

"Stella, your digimon can be kind of a jerk." Ken muttered after Feymon used his head as a launching pad over Biyomon and Agumon.

"Eh, she's just making sure you're up. Stop complaining." Stella called from where she was doing sun salutations towards the back of the cave. "Better her than Myotismon."

"She's got you there Ken!" Sora pointed out. She walked over and stuck her hand out to check if it was cold or warm rain, and gasped.

"What is it?" Davis asked.

"The rain, it's fake! Myotismon must have caused the illusion to prevent us from traveling further. He probably assumed we would just stay hidden to prevent getting wet."

"Well, let's find out!" Gabumon snuck up behind the two cat digimon and shoved them outside. There was a large amount of hissing, then suddenly there was bright light. By going out in the rain, Gatomon and Feymon had broken the illusion, and the sun was shining bright. A few woodmon were walking about, and waved as the Digidestined emerged.

Tai waved back, and with everyone eating bananas from last night's haul, they set off. "Myotismon must be worried about fighting us if he was trying to scare us away with fake rain." Davis boasted, arms behind his head. The group walked out of the trees and into a large clearing. That's when Tai noticed something strange.

"Guys, does it look like it's raining just about everywhere but this narrow swatch we're walking on?" He commented, worry appearing on his face.

"You're right Tai. I wonder why." Kari mused. As random suggestions were thrown out, a horrible realization dawned on on Izzy.

"Uh guys, I don't think it's some random occurrence! I think it's a trap! Doesn't everyone think it's just a bit strange that it's only clear where we are? And that the rain immediately stopped once we got outside?" The pace slowed until everyone was stopped, worry was clouding their eyes.

Their suspicions were confirmed within moments. A dark and familiar laughter filled the air, and dark clouds covered the sky, now filled with bats. Forming a shape, Myotismon appeared before them. Eyes glinting cruelly, he smiled. "Digidestined. We meet again. You'll find that a simple arrow won't be enough to destroy me this time, my master has made sure of it."

All the original Digidestined set themselves, ready to fight. The newer Digidestined, shrank back. While they had fought Malomyotismon, the original seemed so much worse to them. "He's so… dark." Yolei whispered fearfully, gripping Ken's arm, who nodded darkly.

"Don't bother trying to fight, you shall all be destroyed soon enough. I come for one of you, the one my servant did not destroy as instructed. Bearer of faith! Come out, and none of your friends shall be harmed…. yet. "

Eyes, wide, everyone turned and looked at Stella, who had turned white, but bore a look of determination. Before she could move a muscle, Agumon jumped up, digivolving into Wargreymon, and both Matt and Tai had grabbed Stella's arms. "Don't. You. Dare." Tai hissed, Matt nodding in agreement.

Heading directly towards Myotismon, Wargreymon readied himself to fight, raising a claw to strike, but Myotismon vanished in a flurry of bats, and reappeared behind him. Gristly Wing! The force of the attack knocked Wargreymon to the ground. He wasn't injured, but it gave Myotismon the opportunity he needed.

Crimson Lightning! A crackling, red whip shot out of the sky directly towards Stella. She screamed as it wrapped around her wrist, and a second bolt wrapped around her waist. As it tore her away from Tai and Matt, she used her free hand to yank her crest from her neck and her digivice off her bag. Throwing them down to Tai, she yelled, "Don't let him get these! Keep them safe! I'll be fine!"

Gripping Stella's crest and digivice, he yelled to Wargreymon, who leapt up into the air, followed by Gabumon, now Metalgarurumon. Both leapt up trying to get Stella, but Myotismon vanished, taking her with him. The sky brightened as the clouds vanished, and the last they heard was Stella, yelling for Feymon and Tai as Myotismon laughed.

Feymon started whimpering and crouched down, tail between her legs and her ears back. She was shaking from her nose to the tips of her tail, and her eyes were filled with tears. "Stella… I couldn't protect her… I couldn't digivolve… I failed her. Stells…. Come back….. Please come back." Biyomon tried comforting her, but to no avail. Feymon just wailed and started crying.

Meanwhile, Tai was staring at the sky, as if by staring hard enough Stella would reappear. Her crest was hanging from his right hand, and her digivice was wrapped in his fist, which was shaking. Matt and Kari both tried to snap him out of it, but all they got was him shifting his gaze to her Digivice and mumbling "She's gone."

"Tai, snap out of it! We need to move if we hope to save her! Come on!" Matt said.

"She might already be gone though. Why didn't I protect her? This is all my fault. I wish Myotismon had taken me instead. Who knows what he's going to do to her."

Hearing this, Feymon wailed even louder, and Mimi scooped her up, murmuring soothing words into her ear. Matt, in a move similar to when Ken had captured Agumon years earlier, walked over, and punched Tai, knocking him to the ground. "Get a grip Tai! Myotismon taking you would have put all of us in a worse situation because we would've been down a mega! Stella is strong, and she is a survivor. The best thing we can do is haul ass and get to his castle and defeat him."

Matt held out a hand, and helped Tai up, who rubbed his cheek. "Thanks Matt… I needed that." He put Stella's crest around his neck and her Digivice in his pocket. He looked at the group. Taking a deep breath, he addressed the group. "You guys ready? We have some bat and clown ass to kick, and a friend to save."

Despite being shaken, everyone nodded, and Mimi tightened her arms around Feymon, who was still extremely shaken, and hadn't stopped trembling. "Tai…. promise I'll get her back. She needs me, but I need her just as much."

"I promise. Together, we will get her back." Tai picked her from Mimi's arms, and placed her on his shoulder. Let's go." Leading the way, they headed towards Myotismon's castle.


	17. Chapter 16

And this one.. All better! I own my own creations. Thats it.

Stella's eyes fluttered, then flew open. She remembered being torn away from the group by Myotismon, and throwing Tai her crest and Digivice, because that seemed logical at the time. Then she blacked out. She was in a locked cell, with a shadowy figure in the corner. Looking out the barred window, she could see the lake Izzy had described, and the two mountains that were obviously the path her friends would take to find her. The sun was just starting to set.

"Why didn't he just destroy me?" She mused to herself.

"Because, he doesn't need to destroy you," the figure spoke in a whispery voice. "Not yet at least. You must be the bearer of the crest of faith, which hasn't glowed yet, has it?"

"Well…."

" I thought so. He and Piedmon will wait until the rest of the digidestined come to rescue you. They are using you as bait. And then, when your friends come, they will use you as an example of what will happen to the others. Without you, they can't hope to defeat both of them. The prophecy needs to be fulfilled if you want to win. Your crest must glow. You need to find your faith." The shadow spoke freely.

"But I-I have…. I think. I know Tai will do anything he can to find me, and so will Feymon. And the rest too. I have faith in them. I think. I'm not sure what it feels like to believe in people at this point. But I just wish I could signal to them that I think believe in them." She hung her head. "But wait, who are you? And how do you know so much about the digidestined?"

The figure stepped out of the shadows. Dressed in a jumpsuit with zippers, he also wore a ragged purple cloak with a high collar that covered half his face, just below his green eyes, and a matching hat. A staff with the sun on one end was in his left hand. "My name is Wizardmon, I'm a friend of Gatomon. I am stronger than I was the last time I fought Myotismon, and therefore he locked me up. But we can't wait for the digidestined to rescue you, we need to escape. Even if the Digidestined make it here alive, they will never be able to rescue you."

"But won't Myotismon know? Plus how can we escape? I have no powers."

"Just leave everything to me! It'll take some time to set up the illusions, if I want them strong enough to fool Myotismon long enough to escape. Your friends will be here in a few days. We need to be out of this castle before then. Just keep your faith, and trust me." Stella nodded, and closed her eyes, willing the others to know she was safe, and that she believed in them.

As Stella was talking with Wizardmon, her rescue group was resting. Earlier in the day, after much conversing, they had decided that they needed to move faster than they could walking. So, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Veemon and Wormmon all had digivolved to Aquilamon, Ankylomon, Radrimon, and Stingmon respectively. The idea here was they could ferry the group forwards faster. It seemed a bit silly to waste the energy, but it made everyone feel better, like they were moving faster towards saving Stella. And these were the digimon who couldn't digivolve past champion, so it allowed those who could to rest and save their energy for the battle ahead instead of having to move at a rapid pace.

This had gone on for a few hours before they decided to walk as a group again. They had already covered twice the ground in a day they normally did, and were in the valley. They walked the rest of the afternoon. Now, the sun was setting, they were now well within one day of the castle, and Izzy had declared that moving forwards with such large Digimon would be dangerous if they hoped for any form of surprise. Suddenly, Tai jumped up, looking around.

"What gives dude?" Matt asked.

"I swear, I just heard Stella." Tai said, confused. Feymon's eyes filled with hope, and everyone quieted down. Sure enough, although faint, they could hear Stella.

Realization dawned on Tai, and he pulled her crest out of his shirt. Her voice was coming out of her crest. They could hear she was talking to someone, but couldn't make out what the other person was saying. They heard her saying that she knows Tai, Feymon, and everyone will save her, and that she has faith in them. Her crest then gave one faint pulse, and her voice faded.

Everyone was silent, happy to know she was still alive. She did it. Her crest glowed. She has faith again, and I can't let her down. Tai thought with determination. I have to save her. I never told her how I feel either. I need to find her.

Feymon looked like someone had breathed fresh life into her and she asked to keep going. "Feymon, we all want to save Stella. But burning the candle at both ends won't help us. We can't hope to save her if we are too tired to fight." TK gently pointed out.

Feymon's ears fell, betraying her disappointment, but she said she understood. She curled up with Gatomon and Kari as Davis offered to take first watch with Veemon. As they sat by the fire, the rest of the group settled down to rest. As Tai and the others fell asleep, Stella's crest and digivice glimmered, before vanishing into the night.

Stella was woken at midnight by Wizardmon gently shaking her awake, finger to his lips, signaling silence. She got up, and uttered a silent gasp at the sight next to her. Sitting on the ground was a complete replica of her, looking extremely dejected.

"This illusion is the strongest one I can create." Wizardmon whispered. "It can speak basic sentences and responses, walk, and is solid. If examined extremely close, Myotismon and Piedmon will be able to tell that it is a fake, but any other digimon will be unable to tell. I created one of myself as well." He gestured to the shadows and Stella saw a copy there as well, glowering towards the wall.

"What's our next step?" Stella whispered, her stomach churning with nerves.

Wizardmon gestured to hold still, and his fingers moved in a series of odd and mystical gestures. Stella sat down and waited, as Wizardmon cast his spell for over 30 minutes. Once he was done, two things happened. The first was that Stella's crest and digivice appeared before her, and the second was that a strange feeling washed over Stella, enveloping her in a sense of security similar to that of how a child feels wrapped in their mother's arms.

"I summoned your crest and digivice because while it was smart to keep them from Myotismon when you were captured, we now need them to find the others. I have also cast a spell upon both of us. This spell will make us undetectable to any digimon, regardless of power. As the caster of the spell I am still able to see you. This spell will be enough to hide us from Myotismon and Piedmon, and hopefully between this and our doubles we will be far enough away from the castle before they discover our absence. But they can hear us. We must not speak and risk someone hearing us."

Casting another spell, he and Stella glimmered, and moved through the bars before becoming solid again. Stella still felt like a giant bundle of nerves, but was too focused on escaping to dwell on it. Her friends needed her, and she would never forgive herself if something happened to them.

Wizardmon held up his staff and gestured to Stella. She got his idea and grabbed the other end of the staff, ensuring they wouldn't get separated. She had been filled in about the castle a few days ago by Joe. She knew it was full of strange twists and turns, and was designed to keep unwelcome guests lost for ages. Luckily, Wizardmon was familiar with the castle, and they didn't have to worry about pausing. They continued their escape as the sun rose.

Shortly after midnight, Tai sat up, forgoing any hopes of sleeping. He felt in his pocket for something, and when he discovered it's absence began panicking, which drew the attention of Izzy and Tentomon, the current watchers.

"Tai, what's wrong?" Tentomon asked, buzzing over.

"Shh, I don't want to wake the others, but Stella's digivice and crest are gone!" Tai loudly announced, ignoring his own words.

"Don't bother Tai, we weren't sleeping." Sora called.

"Yeah, we're too worried about Stella." Ken added. Like he actually thought we were sleeping.

"And the upcoming battle." Palmon piped up. Everyone else voiced their agreement. Apparently Tai wasn't the only one who wasn't sleeping.

"Well Tai, as you can see, you didn't wake anyone. And as for Stella's crest and digivice, the only logical explanation is that they were summoned back to her side. We may not know the reason, but I highly doubt it was Myotismon's doing. These are tools of light, and it seems unlikely he can summon them." Izzy began speaking when everyone had quieted down.

"Well, since we are all awake, who else is thinking we screw trying to go to sleep and start walking?" Mat suggested, with nods and cheers as his response, the loudest coming from Feymon.

Everyone got up, and headed off. Most of the Digidestined were carrying their digimon to allow them to save their energy, except for the younger ones and Feymon. She ran to catch up with Tai and Matt.

"Guys, I need to request something. When we fight, I'm going for Myotismon. I don't care if I am only a rookie, but he's mine. If I die landing one claw on him, I'll die happy. He took my Stella from me. No one takes Stella from me and gets away with it." She said her eyes flashing, tail whipping through the air. Her tail ring glinted in the moonlight. "My tail ring will give me some extra power, and I need to do this."

Exchanging glances, Matt and Tai looked down at the cat digimon, full of pity. Tai remembered how he felt when Ken had taken Agumon, and knew this was even worse. Ken didn't intend to kill Agumon, and no one knew what was happening to Stella. (Unbenounced to the group, at the moment she was currently slipping through the bars of her cell with Wizardmon)

"Okay…. We'll give you first go. But don't expect us to sit back and let you fight him alone. You're no help to Stella sitting inside a digi-egg after being killed, and if we let you die she will have both of our heads." Matt said, Tai nodding. Feymon looked annoyed, but nodded.

Silence fell upon the group, and they trekked on. As the sun peeked over the mountains surrounding them, they finally reached the shore of the lake. Looking out across the still water, they could see Myotismon's castle. It was just over halfway across the lake, at least a half days walk, with a large clearing in front of it about the size of two-three football fields. One side was against the lake, and the other side was against the woods, but there was a narrow stretch about 20 yards that was bare before joining with the woods the Digidestined stood in. The woods next to the castle also lead to the slope of the mountain, but any digimon larger than a human would be unable to climb it without being seen, and there was no way to get to that patch without crossing in plain view of the castle. This ensured that no one could sneak up to the very front the castle with an army.

Joe sighed, pushing his glasses up. "And here I thought we might have it easy this time around."


	18. Chapter 17

Short but sweet chapter. As for copy writes, same as usual.

As the Digidestined were making their way towards the lake, Stella and Wizardmon were working their way through the maze that was Myotismon's castle. It seemed impossible, and the sun started to rise, with Stella feeling like zero progress had been made. While her friends sat and attempted to think of a plan of attack, she and Wizardmon made their way deeper into Myotismon's maze. _I have to find my friends_ Stella thought to herself, and suddenly, she silently gasped.

Her Digivice had started to glow, unseen by the Bakumon that were floating past her. Taking it off of her bag's strap, she held it up. It was gently pulsing a soft light and she took a step forwards, just to see the light fade. Confused she looked at Wizardmon, who took a second to think, then pointed behind her. Spinning around, she took a step, and the light dimmed even more.

Realization dawned on her face, and she held the digivice out, and swung in a circle. As she turned towards a passageway to her left, the digivice glowed brighter. Grinning, she headed down that passage, leading the way with her Digivice held in front of her.

As Stella's Digivice lead her and Wizardmon out of Myotismon's castle, her rescue group was trying to come up with a plan, when Tai shot up from where he was sitting. "Guys! I got it!"

"Okay, Tai. What's your plan?" Mimi asked.

"Okay, so we hike to the edge of the forest, wait for the sun to rise because Myotismon hates the sun, and we attack! And yell loudly hoping Stella can hear us so she knows we're coming!" Everyone blinked.

"THAT'S your plan?" Izzy asked, mouth agape. He was sure that Tai would have offered up something better than THAT. Tai looked offended.

"Well… I don't see any of you coming up with a better plan."

Davis went to open his mouth but shut it quickly. Matt rubbed the back of his head grimacing, and Wormon just sighed while Yolei shook her head.

"Thought so. Besides, we really don't have a better option. There's no way we can sneak in and find Stella. His castle is a moving maze remember? And maybe if we get enough of the guards out of the castle someone can sneak in and find her, or she can escape. And we're going to have to fight them at some point."

"This plan makes as much sense as that time we tried to disguise Tentomon as a human." Izzy said. "But it is the only real option anyways. Let's go… um… attack two powerful megas head on. Sure, we won't die. Yep."

"Gee, thanks Izzy." Tai muttered as everyone got prepared to move out. "Well Agumon, looks like you should eat my breakfast too, you're going to need it."

Stella and Wizardmon moved rapidly through the castle, following the light from Stella's Digivice. They had no idea that a "rescue plan" was underway, and soon came into the kitchens of the castle. Exiting, they came into the courtyard. Leaning against the wall, they began to study the movements of the guards, and Wizardmon floated up to survey the landscape outside of the castle walls.

Floating down to Stella, he pointed to the door, then swept his finger in an angled direction to the left. He held up two fingers, and tapped his arm, as one would to remind someone to check the time. Stella was preeeeetty sure he meant that out that door, there was a place they could get to and be unseen about two minutes (presumably running) from the door. She nodded, and pointed to the guards. They sat down and began intently studying the guards.

As the two escapees began to study the guards movements, the rescue group had made it almost halfway to the castle. The Digimon were spread out, incase of any attempts at an ambush, or any encounters with Myotismon and Piedmon's henchmen. So far luck had been on their side, and they hadn't encountered any Digimon. Their luck ended when a Toucanmon flew out of the trees above them, heading straight to the castle.

"Well there goes our 'surprise' attack" Matt sighed, holding Sora's hand tight. He was aware it might be the last day they were together, and wanted to feel her skin against his for as long as he could, although he would've preferred to feel a lot more skin then just her hand. Sora squeezed her hand, betraying that she felt the same way.

TK had his arm around Kari's shoulders, and she had hers wrapped around his waist. Tai was conveniently ahead of them, and TK pressed a kiss to the top of her head, letting his lips linger there. Yolei was abnormally quiet, and leaned her head on Ken's shoulder. Joe was walking partially behind Mimi, with both arms wrapped around her shoulders. All were trying to get as much time with those they loved as they could.

Davis, Cody and Izzy were walking together looking grim, and Tai was walking in the front of the group, determined to rescue Stella. Tentomon flew down, announcing they were close to the castle, probably half an hour walk before they reached the clearing, and that he would gather the Digimon back to them.

Tai turned to his friends, his expression grim. "Well guys, looks like it's time. We have a friend in there we need to save, and three dark Digimon we need to defeat." His voice wavering, betraying his nerves as he continued; "I just want you to all know that I wouldn't want to fight with anyone else, and let's kick some dark Digimon ass."

"If we fight together, we can do this." Mimi piped up.

Joe took a deep breath, and cleaned his glasses. "Meems, I'll follow you anywhere."

Their digimon all gathered back, and together they walked towards the biggest fight the would face.

It had taken some time, but they had figured out the guard's movements. They would have precisely 3 minutes to get from the castle to the shelter of the woods while the guards changed positions. Stella, careful not to let her hand cross the threshold of the castle wall, pushed the door open, and looked back at Wizardmon. He held up 3 fingers, and counted down. As he put his last finger down, they ran. She felt a sudden heaviness as she once again became visible, and stumbled. Wizardmon grabbed her arm and together they ran as fast as they could. Just as they could hear the guard returning, Wizardmon pushed her into a bush as he jumped to join her.

Holding her breath, Stella waited, but no alarms were sounded. She wanted to cry with joy, but knew they needed to get deeper into the woods before they could speak freely. Army-crawling, they used the bushes to move into the cover of the trees. Once out, she jumped up, and laughed.

"We did it! Now to find my friends!"

Wizardmon's eyes squinted, which Stella assumed meant he was smiling.

"Gatomon will be happy to see you once again. Are you ready to get going?" Wizardmon nodded. Walking slowly, as both were exhausted from the previous night, and they were on the lookout for spies, they navigated the forest, heading towards their friends.

Reaching the edge of the trees, Ken looked around nervously. "Guys, I don't see any-"

He was cut off by laughter. Clouds covered the sky -"Here we go again." Joe moaned- and Myotismon appeared amid hundreds of bats. Piedmon was yet to be seen, but that didn't mean the Digidestined had it easy. Ladydevimon appeared beside Myotismon, and Gatomon hissed. Foregoing any sense of tact, she leapt off of Kari's shoulder, and digivolving into Angewomon, flew straight towards the dark angel.

"Gatomon wait we had a-ugh nevermind." Tai groaned as his little sister egged her digimon on, yelling for her to kick some ass.

The castle gates opened, and out poured a mixed group of Digimon. There were numerous Bakumon, Vegiemon, Gizamon, and Vilemon. Along with these lower level Digimon, advancing towards the Digidestined was a SkullSatamon, Megadramon, and Icedevimon.

"Guys, I have one thing to say. LET'S DO THIS! GOMAMON GO!" Joe yelled, showing the same fire he did way back when he announced he would make sure the sun would rise.

"Right!" Gomamon said, loving when his partner abandoned his quiet demeanor.

 _Gomamon digivolve to… Ikkakumon, Ikkakumon digivolve to… Zudomon_

The other Digimon soon followed suit, heading into battle.

 _Agumon warp digivolve to... Wargreymon_

 _Gabumon warp digivolve to... Metalgarurumon_

 _Biyomon digivolve to… Birdramon, Birdramon digivolve to… Garudamon_

 _Palmon digivolve to… Togemon, Togemon digivolve to… Lilymon_

 _Tentomon digivolve to… Kabuterimon, Kabuterimon digivolve to… Megakabuterimon_

 _Patamon digivolve to… Angemon, Angemon digivolve to… Magnaangemon_

 _Veemon digivolve to… Xveemon_

 _Hawkmon digivolve to… Aquilamon_

 _Armadillomon digivolve to… Ankylomon_

 _Wormon digivolve to… Stingmon_

Running after their partners, the Digidestined vowed to help in the fight however they could. Tai hung back with Feymon, worried they were walking into a trap. _Fuck._


	19. Chapter 18

As per usual... own nothing

The sounds of battle soon reached Stella and Wizardmon, who had been tracking the group with her Digivice. They looked at each other, and began running. _Without me Feymon can't digivolve… hold on Fey, I'm coming._ Their path was soon blocked by a group of Myotismon's cronies, consisting of 5 Bakumon and a Gizamon. Raising his staff, Wizardmon cried out _Magical Gain_ , taking out the Bakumon, while Stella took a less delicate approach and simply tackled the Gizamon to the ground before continuing forwards.

"Well that's one way to go about it." Wizardmon mused. A large crash prevented him from hearing Stella's response, and looking up they saw Angewomon throw LadyDevimon into the mountainside, and then Xveemon came crashing in front of them, knocking trees over and stirring up a cloud of dust.

"I think it's safe to say we found them!" Stella yelled as Xveemon, oblivious to the two in front of him, jumped up and shot a laser towards a group of Vilemon. As the dust cleared, it was apparent that all hell had broken loose.

Above, Angewomon and LadyDevimon were exchanging punches, while Ice Devimon fought Garudamon. Stingmon, Lillymon, and Zudomon were fighting SkullSatamon with Magnaangemon and Wargreymon, but due to SkullSatamon's speed it was hard to tell if he was losing, or toying with them. Every few seconds one of them would land an attack, but SkullSatamon was also landing some as well, and he seemed to be faring very well. Stingmon wasn't holding up too well, being a champion and Ken could be seen yelling in his Digimon's general direction with a concerned look.

Megakabuterimon and Metalgarurumon were fighting Megadramon, and luckily they were winning. Ankylomon, Aquilamon and Xveemon were battling the various lower level digimon, and were by far the best off in the battles. But there were so many, and the three champion Digimon were beginning to tire.

All the human partners were scattered in the battle, some calling support to their Digimon, others running around trying to figure out where the others were and a few were helping, fighting Bakumon with chants.

Piedmon had come out of the castle, and was speaking with Myotismon with an angered look on his face, gesturing to one of the towers. Stella could only guess that their disappearance had been discovered. Without a sudden look, the two dark Digimon turned and went to the castle walls, waiting out the fight.

She saw Tai, with Feymon on his shoulders, yell and gesture to the two mega digimon, calling them back. It made sense. They needed to conserve their energy for the big battle to come. Turning to Wizardmon, she discovered him missing. Eyes to the sky, she soon found him, flying to help fight SkullSatamon. The ground shook, and she dropped to a knee as more dust flew into the air. She had to get to her digimon, and soon.

The battle had not gone as planned in Tai's head. He had refined the plan as they walked, but everyone ignored it. First Gatomon had charged into battle, followed by Joe and Zudomonn. Then, both their megas, who were supposed to be waiting in the back for Piedmon and Myotismon were wasting energy fighting. Both Piedmon and Myotismon were staying out of the battle, saving their energy. He had called back Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon, and was also dealing with Feymon, who was itching to get at Myotismon. He suddenly saw a mystery digimon fly out of the dust towards SkullSatamon, and he grimaced. _Now what?_

"Tai!" Kari, covered in dust, ran up with TK and Izzy. "It's Wizardmon! He's alive!" Mouth agape, Tai looked up to see the now familiar figure, helping to fight SkullSatamon. With the power of Wizardmon added to the other's SkullSatamon began to lose the battle. With a hit from Wizardmon's spell casting, he began to slow down. The Digimon jumped at the opportunity to weaken him. Lilymon fired her _Flower Cannon!_ At his back, landing a blow on his right hip. He fell down to the earth, struck down by Excalibur, and crashed, sending up dirt into the air. Before he could recover, Magnaangemon had opened up his _Gate of Destiny_ and SkullSatamon was sucked up, followed by IceDevimon, who honestly hadn't stood a chance against Garudamon. After all, fire always beats ice. Last was Megadramon, who was thrown in by Megakabuterimon.

Angewomon, equally matched with LadyDevimon, took the defeat of two of her comrades to gain the upperhand. Shooting an arrow LadyDevimon's way, she flew quickly behind it. LadyDevimon smirked as she knocked the arrow aside, but was not expecting Angewomon to be directly behind her attack. With a cry, she swiped at her enemies shoulder, and landed a blow. Wincing, LadyDevimon swung back, missing with her first attack, and handing a second one in Angewomon's stomach. Gasping, Angewomon kicked LadyDevimon in her already injured shoulder, causing her to fall a few feet in the air.

She took no time to allow for recovery. Quickly, Angewomon punched LadyDevimon straight in the face, and while she was stunned, clasped her hands above her head. She cried out _Heaven's Charm!_ and a ray of pink light highlighted her figure, before extending to her opponent. But where the light illuminated Angewomon, it was deadly to LadyDevimon. With a cry of rage and pain, she vanished in a cloud of darkness. With LadyDevimon defeated, all the Digimon left were some low level flunkies.

Suddenly, Feymon's ears perked, and she jumped down off of Tai's shoulder, staring into the haze at something that was moving towards them. As the figure moved out of the dust, her tail twitched once before she took off running.

"Feymon, what…" Tai trailed off as the figure became clear to human eyes, saw what Feymon saw, and in a flash both took off into the center of the battle.

Matt, unable to believe his eyes, came running up, yelling after him as Sora, Yolei and Davis all turned to watch Tai run into the frenzy of Digimon battling. Sora gasped, hand going to her mouth, and Joe sprinted over, calling for them to look where they already were looking.

Tai didn't think about the Digimon fighting. He didn't think about if he would get trampled, or hit. All he was focused on was running towards the girl coming through the dust, heading straight for him.

Stella saw Feymon, Tai, and the rest of the group before they saw her, and tears of relief came to her eyes. She started running even harder, veering left, then diving into a roll as a Gizamon was pummeled into the ground in front of her before disintegrating into data. Looking up, she saw them running towards her, Feymon with a large head start.

"Fey. Tai." She croaked out, her throat caked with dust. Running as hard as she could, she opened her arms, and Feymon jumped into them. Holding her tight, Stella fell to her knees and transferred how much she missed her into that hug. It didn't last long, she knew Feymon had to go help, and relaxing her grip, whispered "Go."

Growling, Feymon jumped out of Stella's arms, digivolving to Trigaramon before charging towards Myotismon, who was making his way into the fray as more of his Digimon servants were vanquished. She also saw Piedmon jump up to meet Metalgarurumon and Wargreymon in the air. The showdown had begun. He struck first, knocking Wargreymon down with a punch from his left fist as he dodged an attack from Metalgarurumon. They continued to fight, but Stella was immune to the action.

Standing up, she barely had a second to get her balance before she was lifted off her feet, Tai's arms around her waist, his lips against hers. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him back with as much passion and force as he was kissing her. Gently, without releasing his lips from hers, he set her on the ground, pulling her in close.

"I knew you would come." She said, staring into his chocolate brown eyes, feeling safer than she ever had.

"Of course I would. I would've moved mountains to find the girl I'm falling in love with." Tai murmured, cracking a smile.

Stella's eyes widened, and her mouth opened in a mix of surprise and happiness. This entire time, she had no idea what these feelings she had were. She'd never cared for someone like this, someone who was infuriating, frustrating, and amazing. As soon as she heard Tai say those words, it clicked, and she knew exactly how she felt.

"Tai… I'm falling in love with you too." About to kiss him again, she was stopped as Trigarimon was struck by Myotismon's _Crimson Lightning_ attack, de-digivolving back to Feymon as she tumbled across the ground. Myotismon advanced towards the rookie Digimon, his mouth twisted in his characteristic cruel smile.

"No!" Stella screamed. Tai's arms wrapped around her chest were the only things that kept her from running to Feymon. _If only my crest would glow, she'd be able to defeat anything, including Myotismon._ Struggling, she almost broke free, but her legs gave out and Tai re-tightened his grip. She closed her eyes and surrendered to Tai's hold, turning around so her head was leaning into his chest. If she couldn't do anything to save Feymon, she refused to watch her best friend be destroyed. A single tear slid down her face.


	20. Chapter 19

Almost done... and I own nothing but my creations. The usual.

Eyes squeezed tight, Stella pressed her face against Tai's chest, making herself blind to what was coming. As though she was dreaming, she heard Tai calling her name, faint at first, then louder as she allowed her senses to re-open to her surroundings. She lifted her head off of his chest, and could see a bright, glimmering light from under her eyelids. Blinking, she opened her eyes, squinting.

Tai looked like he was illuminated by foglights. "Tai… what's that light?" He just smiled, and gently pulled her crest from around her neck. Shining like the full moon, her crest was glowing a shimmery silver. Her mouth opened in shock, and she looked up at him.

"I knew you could do it," Tai said. "I knew it." He handed it to her, and turned her around. Looking over to where Feymon was, Stella saw that she was also glowing, and both Myotismon and Piedmon were frozen with looks of pain, as if the light from her crest was hurting them.

"Get 'em Fey." Stella whispered, holding her crest in one hand, and Tai's hand in the other.

What happened next is still a mystery. Izzy claims that it could've been caused by the crest having lain dormant for so many years. Or because it shone so brightly. Stella swears it was because she willed it to happen. Not that it matters much, because what's important is that it happened. Feymon shone even brighter, and digivolved. Straight to her mega form.

 _Feymon warp digivolve to… Azuritemon!_

As the light from Stella's crest faded, the blinding light around Feymon dimmed as well. In place of Feymon stood a blue dragon about the size of Metalgarurumon. She had scales the same color of Feymon's fur, and silver spikes running down her back to the tip of her tail, which had what looked like a tattoo of the tail ring Feymon wore. There was a gap in the spikes at her shoulders, clearly meant for someone to sit in. She had a long neck, and silver cat-like eyes on a small head. Thick fangs hung out of her mouth like Trigarimon, and her scales glimmered faintly with what appeared to be stars. Her wings were each the length of her body, translucent, and tipped in two silver claws.

She still portrayed cat-like tendencies, including how she was crouched, fangs bared, ready to pounce on Myotismon, who had paused at this newest development. The battle above had also paused, with Piedmon looking pissed at the Digimon he saw. All the Digidestined couldn't believe their eyes. Feymon turning into a dragon?

"Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed, examining the Digimon. "Davis, what does your D-Terminal say about her?"

Davis closed his mouth, and fished his D-Terminal out of his pocket. "Let's see… WOAH! Says here that's Azuritemon, the mega form of Feymon. She's a protector of the sky, and was rumored to just be a myth. Her attacks are Roar of the Dragon and Milky Way Rain!"

"So. Your crest glowed." Myotismon hissed. "It makes do difference. We shall win. Our master wills it."

He pulled his cloak in close, ready to release his _Gristly Wing_ , but Azuritemon was too quick. Leaping into the air, she fanned her wings out and hovered. She opened her mouth, crying _Roar of the Dragon!_ And ice blue flames came pouring out of her mouth, headed straight towards Myotismon. He released his attack, and for a few seconds the two Digimon were evenly matched. But, Azuritemon slowly gained the upper hand. All other fighting was still put on hold, Digimon and humans alike watching to see who would win.

Sweat started appearing on Myotismon's face, and his arms started trembling. With a "Take him down!" from Kari, Azuritemon narrowed her eyes, and with a slight increase in her attack, tore through Myotismon's attack. He fell to his knees and grimaced. He reached a hand out as the flames spread over his body. For a split second he was aflame, and then he was gone. No one was worried about him coming back this time.

Piedmon scowled to see his ally destroyed, and quickly restarted his fight with the other two megas. _Trump Swords!_ His attack hit Metalgarurumon, who toppled backwards as Wargreymon threw a _Terra Force!._ Piedmon dodged the attack, only to get hit by Azuritemon's tail. He was slammed into the earth, and rolled out of the way to avoid a stream of fire. Throwing a white sheet towards the Digidestined, he cackled. But Azuritemon was there, burning through it with her flames. Next, Piedmon shot his _Trump Swords_ , grazing Wargreymon on the left side as he flew Ken and Izzy out of harm's way.

Eyes narrowing, he shot two more rounds of swords, but to no avail. This time all three megas were ready for him, and all the other Digimon were rushing to fight.

 _V-Laser!_

 _Tail Hammer!_

 _Blast Ring!_

The first three attacks caught Piedmon's attention, forcing him to take a few steps back. Then he was hit by Megakabuterimon's _Horn Buster!_ from the left. Reeling, He threw a white sheet at Azuritemon, yelling _Clown Trick!_ Stingmon flew by, slicing it in half with his _Spiking Strike!_ As Piedmon went for another round of his swords, aimed at Stingmon, Garudamon's _Wing Blade!_ and Zudomon's _Vulcan's Hammer!_ knocked him down before he could strike.

Another _Terra Force!_ followed by a _Metal Wolf Claw_! kept Piedmon down on the earth. TK sensed he was weakening, and yelled "Magnaangemon! Get ready!"

Magnaangemon threw Excalibur at Piedmon, the sword going through his left hand, causing him to cry out in pain. Angewomon shot a _Celestial Arrow_ and got him in the shoulder, pinning him to the ground, payback for the last time they battled. Lilymon's _Flower Cannon_ kept him down, and with him pinned, there was on question of who the victor would be. Azuritemon flew far up into the air above Piedmon. Cast in a blue shadow reflecting the Digimon above, Piedmon looked up to see what was next, teeth bared in a feral growl. _Milky Way Rain!_ Azuritemon's star speckled scales began to glow, and a cloud formed below her. Stars and comets began falling, mixed with icy rain. Piedmon screamed as the mix began to hit him, and he began writhing in pain, each drop burning a hole in his skin.

Magnaangemon opened a _Gate of Destiny_ and Piedmon, blinded by the attack, stumbled into it. As the gate closed, the last thing the Digidestined heard was Piedmon yelling, "You think you've won, but you have yet to beat pure darkness" and an evil cackle. Then, silence.

Spinning Stella in a circle, Tai yelled out "We did it! One Digimon left!"

After he put Stella down, she walked over to her Digimon, still at her mega level. Brushing her hand along Azuritemon's neck, she smiled. "You digivolved."

"Because of you Stells." Azuritemon made a rumbling noise. "Your faith allowed me to digivolve."

Mimi watched the reunion, smiling. She thought that Azuritemon was spectacular, and was so happy that Stella had been found. She turned to see Angewomon and Wizardmon hugging. Mimi turned to Joe smiling and leaned against him, closing her eyes, when Palmon tugged on her hand. "Mimi….."

Looking up, Mimi saw that the sun had vanished, and everyone had stopped talking and were looking towards the center of the lake. The lake itself had turned black, and looked less like water and more like black ooze. And in the very center there was a black mist rising out of the water.

"Ahhh!" Kari screamed, before she fell to her knees, clutching her head. TK knelt by her side, concern emanating from him. "I can feel it…. The darkness. It's here."

"What darkness?" Yolei asked, fists clenched.

"The Darkness." Wizardmon responded, his eyes narrowing. "The Darkness is what created all the evil and corrupted Digimon. The Darkness is what caused the Dark Ocean to form. Kari bears the crest of light, therefore she is the most sensitive to its presence. Legend says that it has a material from, though none have seen it."

Kari was whimpering, her fingers digging into her skull. Suddenly, her crest pulsed, and she softened her grip, allowing TK to help her up. "I-I can still feel it, but it's like something is holding back the pain." She glanced down at her crest, pulsing a soft pink light.

"Ah, I see the child of light has felt my presence." A cold, manipulating voice spoke, sending shivers down every spine. It was as if someone had snuffed out the warmth in the air, and replaced it with arctic air.

"Who are you?" Izzy called out, unsure where to direct his words.

"I am Darkness. I snuff out light and replace it with the dark, with cold, with despair, with hate. I am all that you fear, and all that you hate. I create all the evil that comes into this world, and yours." As the voice spoke, the fog began to gather, making a hazed form begin to take shape over the water.

Gripping Sora's hand, Matt stepped forwards. "Well, why should we fear you? You have no physical form." Eyes wide, Ken shook his head, willing Matt to take back what he said.

"Silly boy. You do not understand. I live in all of you. Every dark thought you've had. Every bit of hate or anger you feel is me. I feed off of those things. I have been gathering strength for near a millennium, biding my time. Look around."

Mimi screamed, and pointed to Ken. Spinning around, everyone gasped as they saw a black substance coming out of Ken's nose. He tried pinching it shut, but to no avail. He shakily pointed at Mimi, Joe, and in turn everyone. "This isn't just me."

Sure enough, all the Digidestined were having the same occurrence. It was strongest in Kari, Ken, Stella and Matt, and it was terrifying. The cloudy figure laughed, and began to take shape. Cody watched with terror. _How can we fight this creature when we give him strength? This isn't going to be good…._


	21. Chapter 20

On another posting roll, enjoy everything I don't own that I use to create my own story!

After a few minutes, the black matter ceased to stream from the Digidestined. Stella squeezed Tai's hand as the rapidly forming figure walked towards the Digidestined. Tai gave her a smile, trying to betray confidence, but he was worried. They had never faced a Digimon like this. Wargreymon stepped protectively in front of him, and the rest of the Digimon followed suit, making a wall of sorts between the approaching figure and their human partners.

The figure paused, and a wave of dark light emanated from him, knocking the Digimon over, and freezing them in place. Once the Digidestined could see again, they saw his true form. He resembled a human at first glance, standing at 7 ft tall, with black hair that flowed down his back. The top part of his face was covered by a black mask, and his fanged mouth was in a crimson smile that stood out against the milky white skin of his lower face and neck. He had two black horns extending out of his head, and was clad in black armor. He had a set of ragged black wings extending out of his back, and hovered a few feet above the ground. He held a black spear in his right hand and a black orb filled with black fire in the other.

"I am Destruction. I am Death. I am Darkness. I am Iblismon. I will snuff out all light and cover the world in hate." He announced, his voice filled with malice. Thick black fog swirled around him, and the Digidestined were filled with dread. With their Digimon paralyzed, they were helpless.

"No." Everyone turned to look at Tai. He was gripping Stella's hand, and his head was bowed. Raising his head, he stared at the Iblismon with a look of determination on his face.

"I won't let you win. I refuse to give up. Every time we have been down, or been given the shit end in a fight we have come out on top. ALWAYS. I possess the crest of courage, and I WILL NOT LET YOU WIN!" He ended with a yell.

There was a moment of silence as he locked eyes with their opponent. Then: "No, Tai." Stella spoke quietly. He turned to look at her, eyes filled with confusion. She gripped his hand tight, and stepped forwards, eyes flashing. "WE won't let you win. I'm with you Tai. I'm not leaving your side. I believe in you. Courage and Faith, together."

Well, might as well get one last kiss just in case we die Stella thought, and pulled Tai's head down towards hers, crushing her lips against his. Suddenly, they heard a pained groan. Breaking the kiss, they saw that their crests were glowing, and in turn both their Digimon were glowing, and had begun to move. The light was hitting Iblismon, and appeared to be causing him pain. He bared his fangs, and threw a wave of dark light towards the two Digidestined. They were thrown backwards, and landed with an audible thump on the ground. But the light continued to shine.

"Tai!" Kari yelled, and wrenched her arm out of TK's grasp. He was shaking his head, and she put her hands on either side of his face and pressed her forehead to his.

"TK, I have to face my fears. I'm terrified of the darkness, but enough is enough. Mine is the crest of light. I literally am Darkness's worst fear. I have to do something. Come with me. I can't shine without my hope standing next to me. Please."

He looked at her, and looked over at Tai and Stella getting up, Stella holding her right wrist gingerly, Tai sporting a cut on his arm. Looking back at Kari, he took a deep breath of air and nodded. "I'm with you."

Kari's eyes lit up, and she threw her arms around him. Their crest's began to glow now, particularly Kari's, and Angemon and Angewomon began to glow in turn. Iblismon began to grimace, shielding his eyes. Azuritemon had recovered, and shot a Rain of Stars at her opponent, who blocked it with a wing. Izzy, furiously thinking, came to an abrupt conclusion. "That's it!"

He ran over to Tai and Stella, waving for the rest to follow. "Don't worry! You aren't in this alone! I've got it! The last bit of the prophecy!" Announcing his support, his crest began to echo the other four, and Megakabuterimon began to slowly get up. Iblismon went to step towards the group, but was hit by Wargreymon, who had recovered.

Dusting himself off, Iblismon hissed at Wargreymon, and threw his spear, speaking three words: Spear of Nightmares. Azuritemon jumped, up pushing Wargreymon out of the way. She was struck by the spear on the tip of her tail along with a rock, which was vaporized. If not for her tail's tattoo beginning to glow, she would have been vaporized immediately as well

"Well at least we know what his attack does." TK muttered sarcastically.

"Guys, we forgot about the prophecy, and what Stella said about the crests." Izzy pushed aside TK's comment, speaking rapidly. The five Digimon that had been revived were no match, and they had minutes before they were overpowered. "Think about it. The crests reacted to those of us who openly spoke up, in my case, and when the two people whose crests are matched were acting as one, they glowed. We all need to stand together, and as one. Then, Tai, it's up to you and Stella. We give you the tools, you take that bastard down. This fight isn't going to be if our Digimon are strong enough, or if we can remember what our crests stand for; it is about if we are strong enough, and we can work together."

Joe was the first. As Megakabuterimon was knocked down, he kissed Mimi on the side of her head and stepped forwards. "I'm in," he said, with Mimi following close behind, nodding. Their crests started shining, causing a chain reaction among their Digimon. It seemed that the more Digidestined that stepped forwards, the quicker their Digimon would recover, because in the three minutes it took Matt and Sora to step forwards, Zudomon and Lillymon were already up and fighting.

"But what about the three of us?" Yolei cried, "We don't have crests!"

"You still embody the spirit of the crests Yolei. While you aren't a part of the prophecy, I'm sure if you three fight your Digimon will be released." Ken spoke out. Yolei looked at Cody and Davis, and they all nodded. They grasped hands and stepped forwards.

"Even without the power of the crests, we will still stand and fight." Cody announced. Their Digimon soon began glowing, and were released from their statue form.

Ken was last to step forwards, and with that all the Digimon were fighting, but to no avail. Iblismon was just too strong. As Stella watched Stingmon and Garudamon get knocked out of the sky, de-digivolving into Yokomon and Wormon she came to a devastating conclusion. Calling Azuritemon over, she ran to meet her halfway to the battle, and with Tai running behind her, began climbing onto Azuritemon's back.

"Stella what are you doing?" Tai yelled over the sounds of clashing Digimon. "We need Azuritemon to fight!"

"No Tai. The prophecy is about us. Not our Digimon. I'm going to face him." Turning to Izzy, who had run over, she began rapidly speaking. "Izzy, all of you need to will your crest's power to me. I'm going to go face Iblismon head on. And I need the power of all the crests. We're almost out of time. " The sound of Metalgarurumon hitting the castle before de-digivolving into Tsunomon shook all three of them.

"Izzy, NOW!" At the urgency in her voice, Izzy nodded and ran back to the others.

She felt a hand on her ankle, and saw Tai. He looked at her, and she knew what he meant. You aren't going into this alone. She held out her hand, and he climbed up, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his forehead into her back.

Azuritemon leapt into the air, and Stella felt her stomach drop. Looking down, she saw the 8 crest holders standing in a circle, holding their crests in their hands, the glow from the crests sneaking through the cracks in their fingers. The glow around them faded, and in turn the glow surrounding her and Tai's crest's grew, and changed from a bright white to a pulsing rainbow, changing between colors of the crests. Azuritemon flew them down into the fray, and landed. Stella tried jumping off of of her back, but caught her foot on Azuritemon's wing and rolled down her side, while Tai gracefully jumped down. Azuritemon flew up, and as Stella scrambled to her feet, she realized that the world had gone dark with fire.

Iblismon had released the orb of fire, and it had spread, engulfing himself, Stella, and Tai within it. They were cut off from the rest, and from their Digimon. Stella could hear Azuritemon roaring, but she had no way of getting in. Turning back to face the evil Digimon in front of her, she took a deep breath, and released it. Next to her, Tai was glaring daggers at Iblismon, fists clenched tight.

"So, any idea what we do now genius?" Tai hissed out of the corner of his mouth. Stella mentally swore, because she had no idea.

"Humans." They spun to see Iblismon standing a few feet away, sneering. "You never learn." He raised his spear, and Stella heard him yell Spear of Nightmares. They both instinctively held up their hands for protection, and heard a thud. The spear that should have disintegrated both of them was lying on the ground, the tip broken off. Their crests were releasing a stream of light, creating a shield. They watched as the spear dissolved into dark smoke, fading into nothingness.

They stood there, crests glowing, hands clasped, looking where the spear had just lain. Tai turned to Stella, and on an impulse, he shoved his crest into Stella's hand and took hers in exchange. Maybe courage can protect her his mind reasoned. She looked at him confused, but he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at the Digimon in front of him.

Iblismon was also studying the two humans in front of him, not making any advances. It wasn't like he was on a time constraint. He had the two of them surrounded, and while the voices of the others could be heard, they had no way of getting in. The Digimon was obviously confused how they were still standing there. He began walking towards them, one hand outstretched. Since he was now lacking his weapon, he had apparently decided the best course of action was to simply strangle the life out of them. Tai stepped in front of Stella, and on a whim held up her crest, willing it to protect Stella and himself.

The crest was apparently listening. Iblismon's gloved hand made contact with the crest, and immediately withdrew his hand. Wincing, he held it up, seeing a hole in his gauntlet, exposing white. Tai's brain was slowly clicking in all the pieces, and seeing his chance to check his theory, threw himself at Iblismon's left foot. Where the crest made contact, a brilliant light was created, and Iblismon took only a few seconds to kick Tai in the ribs, sending him rolling backwards holding his right side.

"Tai!" Stella felt a blind rage come over her, furious at the image of Tai hurt. Throwing all caution to the wind, she ran at Iblismon, Tai's crest in her left hand. She swing her left ( hand against Iblismon's side, trying to shove him away from Tai. His armor was strong, and she felt her wrist crack painfully. The crest in her hand reacted as it hit the armor, and when she was shoved away, she saw a hole in his armor, exposing something underneath.

"Stella!" Tai called, standing up, wincing. "That's it! The crests, they burn through his armor! Maybe if we can get close enough we can make a big enough hole!"

A sudden thought came to Stella. "Maybe we can use them to stop this fire! If what you say is true, then we need to get our Digimon in here to finish him off!"

Iblismon showed no emotion to the two of them, either because they were wrong, or because he didn't want them knowing they were right.

Stella looked at Tai, glanced at the wall of black fire, and winked. He looked confused, then worried, as Stella ran at Iblismon. Forgetting about her hurt wrist, she punched him right where Tai's crest had created a hole. She hissed in pain as her already sprained wrist cracked, resulting in an obvious break. But her pain wasn't important at the moment. Iblismon gasped, and fell to one knee. She grabbed this as her chance, and pressed her crest against his chest place, yelling at Tai to "Fucking do something, ANYTHING", about the black fire that had them trapped.

Iblismon had recovered at this point, and sending out a wave of black light, threw Stella back, and actually assisted Tai in getting close to the flames. Stella's goal was almost accomplished. Besides the hole in his gauntlet, the missing boot and the hole in the side of his armor, his entire breastplate was now gone, leaving only black chainmail sporting a small hole in the center. He glared at Stella, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before her luck ran out.

Tai, meanwhile, was at a conundrum. He knew there was something he could do about this fire, but had no idea what the fuck it was. Glancing back, he saw Stella roll between Iblismon's outstretched hands before boldly jumping onto his back, pressing his crest against his helmet. She didn't stay on for long, and slid off, scrambling backwards.

Focus Kamiya. He turned back to the wall, trying to figure out what was with this wall. The crest still glowed, and began to sway in one direction. Raising an eyebrow, he turned, and it clicked. There, in the direct center of the "cage" was the black orb. How he had missed it before, he had no clue. But he knew that Stella was running out of time and this was the best lead he had. He began sprinting towards it, and was jostled to the ground by the earth shaking. Stella had really pissed off Iblismon, and he had leapt into the air, coming down to the earth, causing the shaking Tai felt.

Scrambling to his feet, he continued to run, reaching the orb. He stared at it, and throwing caution to the wind, grabbed it. He felt a rush of electricity run through him, and then Stella's crest flashed a blinding light. Next thing he knew, the orb had turned white, and the fire was gone. He saw Wargreymon and the others running towards him with one eye, and Iblismon advancing, multiple gaps in his armor, with the other. He also saw Stella lying on the ground behind Iblismon.

He had a feeling that the orb he was holding would now bestow some damage on Iblismon, and thanked a higher power that he was a soccer player. Confident the orb wouldn't break, he placed it on the ground and began dribbling it towards the Digimon. He caught a glance of Radrimon, carrying Joe, circling around the group to get at Stella, and then focused back on his target. When the distance between himself and Iblismon was only a few feet, he exhaled, brought his foot back, and kicked as hard as he could. Iblismon, focused on Wargreymon and Magnaangemon coming at him from above, didn't expect the hit. Exploding on impact, he screamed as the orb produced the same light as Tai and Stella's crests. As the light and smoke cleared, Iblismon stood, but lacking any armor. His red eyes glared, and his white, skeletal body stood unprotected. Iblismon was completely stripped of his and Stella had fulfilled the prophecy.


	22. Chapter 21

Almost finished! One chapter to go after this one! Enjoy! And I own only my own characters

With Stella and Tai having unlocked the key to Iblismon's defeat, the Digimon were feeling a second wave of energy. During the time Tai and Stella had been trapped, those Digimon who had been reduced to their in-training/rookie forms had been able to regain enough energy to Digivolve again. While everyone gathered around Tai, Joe was checking Stella who was sitting up, looking dazed.

"I thought I said NOT to take on any more evil Digimon," Joe lectured, looking half frustrated and half amused. He wrapped Stella's broken wrist, using a branch as a splint. She fumbled to put Tai's crest around her neck, having forgotten she didn't hold her own, and Tai was doing likewise. Their crests had reverted to glowing the single color that was designated to each one, but they hadn't taken any notice. Raidrimon ran over to the rest of the Digidestined with Joe and Stella, before charging into battle. With everyone together, they all took in Iblismon without his armor.

Iblismon's uncovered form was one that inspired terror. It resembled a skeleton, but with some sort of ragged flesh hanging off of the bones. He had long, clawlike hands, and his eyes were red, with flickering pupils, as though his eyes contained fire. His wings were identical to his body, having lost their protective shell. Now that he no longer had his weapons, he was now firing off black light at anything that came near, and was just as difficult to destroy. Wargreymon swooped down, shooting a Terra Force, which Iblismon dodged, but then was hit from behind by Zudomon's Vulcan's Hammer. Wincing, he turned to face Zudomon, and was body slammed by both angel Digimon.

"ENOUGH!" He roared, and flung his hands out, creating a ring of dark light that knocked all Digimon over. The Digimon all stunned, lay there, trying to get back to their feet. Azuritemon was the first back up, and she leapt into the air, sending a Rain of Stars down upon Iblismon, who dodged it, but just barely. He was hit by a small portion of it, and opening his mouth, roared. Metalgarurumon leapt at him, teeth locking onto one wing. Biting down hard, there was an audible crunch, and he leapt away, dragging one of Iblismon's wings with him.

Matt cheered his Digimon on, and soon everyone else was joining in, each cheering for their Digimon. Emboldened by their partner's support, the Digimon formed a ring around Iblismon, with Magnaangemon, Angewomon, Garudamon, Aquilamon, and Megakabuterimon hovering above.

"Give up!" Sora shouted. "You are done!"

Iblismon turned, and hissed out "Never. I am darkness, and I WILL spread across the worlds, and the universe." before leaping at Ankylomon, digging his claws into the Digimon's back. Cody cried out, and Ankylomon was reduced to Armadillomon before XVeemon and Wargreymon yanked Iblismon away, and threw him into the air. Horn Buster! Wing Blade! Metal Wolf Claw! All three attacks hit Iblismon, who yelled out, managing to stay hovering with his one wing. Lilymon, hovering so high up no one even saw her, shot a Flower Cannon, hitting his wing, which sent Iblismon plummeting down to earth, similar to how they beat Piedmon.

Only, Iblismon was much stronger. Shooting out another wave of black light, it hit XVeemon and Stingmon, sending them back to their lower level forms. Standing up, the Digidestined and their Digimon partners could see that he was weakened, but barely. Their hits were doing damage, especially without any armor, but he was just so strong. He was moving slower, and Izzy guessed that the black fire Tai had transformed had been giving him energy, and he was just beginning to lose it. But their Digimon would run out of energy long before he did.

"What can we do to help them?" Kari asked, looking around the group.

"We just have to believe in them." Stella responded grimly, as Aquilamon and Lilymon were knocked to the ground. Suddenly, their Digivices began glowing. Holding them, the group all looked around, knowing from experience that this was a positive thing, but not sure what to do with it. Their devices answered for them. Beams of light shot out up into the air before coming to land in a ring around Iblismon. He reached out, and quickly withdew his arm from the light. He tried shooting his dark light at it, but to no avail. The Digivices had trapped him.

"ATTACK!" Tai and Stella's voices sounded in the air. Soon, all the Digidestined were echoing the first two, and the left Digimon responded eagerly. Tsunomon was first, sending a Vulcan's Hammer! directly at the dark Digimon, which was followed by a Hornbuster! Both attacks hit his left arm, causing it to disintegrate. It appeared that the light had also weakened his bodily composition. He was hit from above with Azuritemon's Rain of Stars! and Garudamon's Wing Blade! and fell to his knees.

He struck the rays of light, and still they stood. They stood while he was hit by both Terra Force! and a Celestial Arrow!. They stood through him putting all his power into his dark light. They stood through Excalibur slicing off his right arm. And still they stood, entrapping Iblismon. He didn't speak, he didn't blink, he just glared, pure malice emanating from every fiber he had left. Bits of data poured out of small wounds across his body, and the Digidestined knew it was almost over. Wargreymon and Azuritemon stood in front, and glanced back at their partners.

Meeting his friends eyes, Tai nodded. "Take that bastard down." Wargreymon turned back, and gathered the energy around him, throwing his arms back while calling out Terra Force! and Azuiremon opened her mouth, hissing Roar of the Dragon!. The two mega attacks hit Iblismon, causing irreversible damage. From within his cage, he began to disintegrate into black data.

"You think this is the end, Digidestined?" He spat, as his body began to vanish. "I cannot be destroyed that easily. I will be reformed, with greater power. You will never be rid of me!"

Just then, the glowing beams of light intensified, forming an orb around Ibilsmon and his floating data. The team watched as it grew brighter, and brighter, until it faded. In place was a solid golden orb, an eternal prison for the dark Digimon. They could make out the pieces of data floating around inside, but there was no way out for it. The battle was won.

"Congratulations." A familiar voice spoke out from behind them, and turning around they say Gennai, still resembling a young man. "You did it. We were a bit concerned for a bit there. Stella, we weren't sure if your crest would ever glow. Tai, that was clever switching the two crests when battling. It was speculated that your two crests would work well together, but we never imagined that they would work that well!"

His face grew serious as he continued speaking. "Now, it's time to seal evil once and for all. You already tried once, but because two crests were missing it was impossible to do properly. Now that all ten crests and present and accounted for, we can get down to business."

He gestured for those of them with crests to stand in a circle, and Stella held up Tai's crest. "Here, we kinda forgot that we switched earlier." He smiled, and exchanged Faith for Courage. Gennai nodded, and instructed everyone to hold their crests cupped in their palms.

"Close your eyes, and picture the Digital World healed. Picture your individual crest covering the land in safety and beauty. Picture it forming a barrier between light and dark." He spoke, and then fell silent.

It began with Sora's crest. Emitting a red light, a column was formed, reaching far into the sky. Soon the other crests followed suit, and there was soon a rainbow of different lights. The rays began swirling together, creating an iridescent wave. Similar to the first time the Digidestined released the crests, it washed over the land, repairing any and all damage done, and creating new life. Flowers bloomed, trees grew fresh, bright green leaves, and all the dirt stirred up during their battles now became soft grass.

Opening their eyes to cheering from the Digimon, Yolei, Davis, and Cody, everyone smiled. They still held their crests, which was different from the last time. Gennait clapped his hands once and grinned. "Well done! With the full power of the ten crests the Digital World will be safe as ever!"

"But Gennai why weren't our crests form's released like last time?" Izzy asked.

"Excellent question. Last time since two crests were missing, your entire crest, physical form and all, was given up in attempt to make up for the ones missing. This time, that was not necessary. These are for you to keep, and even better they still hold the core power of the crest. They are linked to the barrier you helped create just now. So long as you keep your crest's meaning alive and in your heart, it will never vanish, and will continue to feed power into the protective barrier formed. And, while it is rare, if there is ever a dire need, they will enable your Digimon to Digivolve, but only in a life or death situation." Gennai responded. "Now, it is time I send you back to your world. You fulfilled your duty to the Digital World, and the time warp has been fixed."

"So we will never get to see our Digimon again?" Mimi asked, her grin fading away.

"No! The Digital world no longer has a need to shut off contact from your world. You will all be able to travel freely between the two worlds with your Digimon. I would recommend leaving them for a few days to regain their strength, and remember that Digimon can only stay in your world for a few days at a time before they begin to lose their strength. So make sure they spend at least one day a week in the Digital World." Gennai's response resulted in lots of cheers, high-fives, and a "Prodigious!" from Izzy and Tentomon.

Stepping aside, he gestured to a glowing white portal, recently created. "You can open one of these from any of your digivices now. Just hold it up, and call out 'Digiport open!' and you'll be good to go! It will always open in the area your Digimon is. When you wish to return, it will take you back to the exact spot you were in your world, unless you think of a different location. And, thank you, Digidestined. You will forever be heros here."

Waving goodbye to their Digimon, and promising to come back to come back in a few days, the group walked through the portal. Stella paused before walking through, and Tai asked what was wrong.

"Nothing," she smiled. "I just never thought that I would be leaving here happy. What if things change when we go back"

He squeezed her hand, and placed his crest in it after removing hers from around her neck. "Here. Take my crest. Wear mine, and I'll wear yours. As a promise that I'll always be there. That all of us will always be there."

With that said, he gently pulled her through the portal. Walking a few feet though blinding light, Tai blinked, and realized they were back in the park, where their picnic had been. Everyone was looking around, and Davis was already digging into the pizza, which was miraculously still warm.

"Hey Stells, you hungry?" Tai asked, but heard no response. Looking around, he didn't see Stella anywhere. "Hey guys, have you seen Stella?"

Confused, everyone said no, having assumed she would have appeared with him. Stella had not come through with them. A quick search of the entire park showed that she was nowhere to be found.

"Oh no." Izzy mumbled.

"What?" Tai asked, concerned.

"Well, we were sent back to the last place that we were on Earth."

"Yeah, and?"

Izzy hesitated, knowing Tai wouldn't like what he had to say. "Well… Stella didn't go to the Digital World with us, she had already been there, and on top of that, she went back and forth between the two worlds multiple times, so who knows where she ended up."

TK caught on to what Izzy was getting at. "So basically, we have no idea where Stella is."

"And I never got her last name, and she never got any of ours…." Tai sank to the ground, his face a mask of shock. "There's no way to find her. I may never see her again."


	23. Chapter 22

And so begins the Epilogue... one chapter left! Enjoy, and as per usual, I own nothin.

One Year Later

Sora stretched her arms and turned her face to the warm sun. Next to her Kari, Yolei and Mimi were on the hunt for a place to eat. They had just finished a morning at the beach and were starving. She still couldn't believe how lucky it was that that Izzy and Yolei's tech conference, Mimi's fashion collaboration, Matt's battle of the band's performance and Tai's job interview all occurred within a week. Even better, they were able to meet up on Oahu after, where Mimi's parents had purchased a HUGE house for their anticipated retirement in a few years, for a vacation/reunion.

The past year had been rough on everyone, especially Tai. After they figured out that Stella was MIA, a giant search had commenced. She had asked Biyomon to get in touch with Feymon, only she had apparently already hooked up with Stella and no one had seen her since. They had scoured address books, but no one they found was their target. Izzy had tried to find her through the license records, and still nothing.

Tai remained hopeful that once soccer season started, she would catch his name or a picture in the paper, and would come find him, but no such luck. Right around Halloween, he gave up, saying he needed to move on. He would never admit it, but it was breaking his heart that she was gone, and he hadn't given up hope, and definitely hadn't moved on. Sora, Kari and Matt all knew this because anytime he saw someone with long brown hair he looked like someone told him Christmas came early.

He also had stopped going to parties, forgot about any girl besides Stella, and had focused on his classwork and soccer. Thanks to Stella's unintended influence, he had graduated with just below a 4.0 and had been offered a job in Santa Monica, California working in the diplomatic relations area. Kari, TK and Davis had all graduated high school, and were attending college in the coming fall. Kari and TK were lucky to attend the same school, both were off to Berkeley to study writing and photography, while Davis was attending the same school as Tai had on a soccer scholarship (major undecided). Yolei and Ken were happily attending Tokyo University and living together, Yolei interning with Izzy. Cody was in his senior year of high school, hoping to go to America to study medicine: he was hoping to be a physical therapist.

Sora had also graduated, and was currently working with Mimi in Los Angeles, where she was spearheading a collaboration between some American clothing brands and the company in Tokyo she was working for. Matt's band had just finished their Battle of the Bands round, and had come out on top, winning a chance to audition for a local producer, which had gone spectacular. They had just signed a two album contract. Sora and Matt were still engaged, and in the process of planning the wedding, which was extremely tiring. Sora wished they would just elope, and was considering doing it while on vacation. Joe and Mimi had just gotten engaged, and Joe was also in America, finishing his studies, working under one of the surgeons at UCLA.

Izzy's company had taken flight, and "Prodigious Tech" was all over Japan. He had been attending a tech conference in Oahu and had been the one to suggest the group meet up. Mimi had immediately agreed, offering up her parent's home in Kailua as a place for the gang to stay. It wasn't hard to convince the rest, considering all they had to pay for was a flight.

They had all been there for a few days and it had been marvelous. Their Digimon were joining them in two days for the tail end of the vacation, and all the tourist excursions were completed. Now they were lazing it up at the beach. The boys were on their way back from surfing, and the girls had taken a girls day. Kari pointed out a small little surfer bar called 'Tidals' and Sora messaged Matt the name so he could come meet them and grab the spare set of keys for Mimi's house.

Walking in, Jack Johnson was playing softly in the background. Kari slipped a pink tank over her pale pink bikini top, and Yolei pulled her still wet hair into a bun. Mimi walked up to the bartender, dressed in denim cutoffs, a white tank and an unbuttoned blue flannel with rolled sleeves and her long brown hair in a braid, and asked her for some menus. The girl froze, and holding a jug of olives turned around slowly. Her hazel eyes held the same surprise as the first time the girls saw them, and she still had that moon tattoo below her collarbone along with a wave tattooed on her inner left wrist. Her neck was home to a small orange crest bearing the sun, hanging by a silver chain.

Dropping the jug of olives, she screamed and hurdled the bar, wrapping Mimi in a hug, who returned it tenfold. The other three gawked, their brains not processing the girl in front of them. Releasing Mimi, the girl threw herself at Sora, crying out "No. Fucking. Way."

Kari and Yolei jumped in to form a four-way hug, all of them screaming. When they emerged, Kari was first to speak. "Stella! But… how? We spent weeks trying to track you down, how did you end up here?"

Stella grinned, and gestured at them to have a seat. She walked back behind the bar, and poured a round of tequila shots, waving off Kari and Yolei's protests that they were underage. "Dude, no one will know. Just sit and take the damn shot! This is a reunion here!" Once shots were taken and the girls were all settled, Stella began her tale.

"So, i got dropped in some random market," she began, taking a shot of tequila before continuing, "because apparently my continuous comings and goings had whatever controlled the transport between the two worlds all fucked up. I freaked out, worried I was in a random world, or halfway across Earth, but realized pretty quickly I was in some Tokyo mini-mart. After I bargained my way back to Odaiba and my small apartment, I obviously tried to find all of you. And I succeeded, right around Halloween."

"Wait! If you found us, why didn't we ever hear from you again?" Yolei questioned.

Stella shifted, looking embarrassed. "Well, after reading about Tai's soccer team winning, I decided I would surprise him. After he told me that he was falling in love with me I stupidly assumed he would wait for me. But a few days before Halloween, I went to the soccer pitch to see him after practice, when I saw him hugging some girl with long black hair streaked with silver and blue. He kissed her on the cheek, and they walked away with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. I left, and while I wanted to see all of you, couldn't stand seeing Tai. I had come into my inheritance, and used it to pay off my degree and yoga teacher training. After Tai unknowingly stuck a million pins into my heart, I donated a shitton to charity, and stuck all but three grand of what was left of my money into an American savings account. Then, I took the last three and headed out. I traveled around Asia, South Africa, spent a few weeks living in the mountains in Costa Rica, and eventually got a part time job teaching yoga, and bartending here. It's not much, but it's peaceful."

"Wait, you said you saw him with that girl right before Halloween?" Kari asked suspiciously.

"Well, yeah, three days before. Why?"

Kari paused. "Well… the funny thing is… you saw me with Tai." Ignoring Stella's face, she continued. "I had been trying on wigs for my halloween costume- I was going as a witch- and decided to spook Tai."

Stella's face fell. "Oh. Well I guess I should be happy he wasn't with a girl, although by now I bet he's found someone better than me."

Yolei opened her mouth, but Sora elbowed her and answered in her place. "Well, actually, we aren't sure. He hasn't filled us in, and he isn't on this trip because of work. It sucks because everyone else made it, but he couldn't."

Yolei, Mimi, and Kari all turned to look at Sora like she grew an extra head while Stella sighed. "Well… that's… whatever I guess." She brightened up a second later. "Hey! All of you should come to the beach bonfire party tonight! I'm actually off any minute, and then I'm going to get ready and I'm heading over! Why don't you girls come with me and the boys can meet us there? It's going to be a party you won't want to miss! You can borrow clothes and everything!"

Mimi pulled Sora aside while Kari and Yolei worked out the details with Stella and messaged the boys the new plan, only telling them that they had made a new friend. Meanwhile, Mimi glared at Sora. "Why did you tell Stella TWO lies? We both know that boy is still pining for her, and that he's here, on Oahu with the boys."

"Because Mimi I want to see the look on both of their faces when they realize they are together again." Sora hissed. "And it'll be an awesome surprise." Mimi thought for a moment, and then grinned, and whipping out her D-Terminal, messaged the other two girls, who quickly turned around and winked.

"So Matt still needs to pick up the set of keys so they can get into the house, but the others are meeting him at the surfboard rental shop. He should be here any minute." Sora announced over Ke$ha 40 minutes later. Stella was off work, and was sitting in an olive colored jeep missing it's top, wearing aviators and a dark blue hat over her now unbraided hair. The other three were also in the Jeep, and Sora was sitting on the hood, keeping an eye out for Matt.

Soon, a familiar blonde head was spotted, accompanied by an almost identical one. TK waved at Kari while Matt waved at Sora, who tossed him the key before swinging into the front seat. "See you guys in a while!" she yelled, then the mystery brunette driving wolf whistled at the confused brothers before peeling out of the parking lot.

TK blinked. "Dude, what just happened?"

"Well bro, I'd say we got ditched for our lunch date. At least we've got a party to go to!" Matt responded. His D-Terminal flashed, and he read the latest message. "Hmm…. looks like we need to bring alcohol…. Preferably Tequila, Corona, or both, with lots of limes. Well, let's meet the guys and go shopping."

"So do you still have feelings for Tai?" Mimi pulled the pink, flowing, cut out dress over her head. The girls were in Stella's house, which in truth was more of a small shack. It was one large area with a small white table with two chairs pushed up against the wall. It was bright, with pale blue curtains hanging on the windows and a big bed with a white quilt covering it in one corner. A pile of books was next to a small night stand was the resting place for a picture of Stella with her parents. There was a yoga mat rolled up in another corner next to a small altar covered in stones, and a laptop was sitting on the table. She had a makeshift closet made from a long silver pipe hanging from the ceiling and a small dresser. The stove and refrigerator were across the house from the bed, and a surfboard, skateboard, and bike were outside in a small shed Stella had haggled from a local along with snorkel gear.

The girls were picking things to wear to the party Stella's had told them about. Stella lived on the beach north of Kailua on the outskirts of the North Shore, and her friends lived 10 minutes up the beach. Since the area was inhabited mostly by surfers, Stella explained, they were usually the location of any wild bonfires or celebrations thrown.

"Well, if by feelings you mean I haven't met any guy that remotely compares to him then yeah. I do." Stella said bluntly. "But what does it matter? I'm here, and he's in Japan."

The girls exchanged looks, and Yolei picked up a pair of black shorts, holding them up. Stella nodded her approval, and tossed a grey tank with a dark blue wave on the front her way. Sora was keeping her red shorts on, but had snagged a black tank top with fringe down the sides from Stella. Kari had found a pair of white cutoffs and kept her pink tank top, stealing a silver necklace with a crescent moon on it.

"You all look fabulous! Now, let's get going, don't want to miss anything!" Stella said with a wink. She was wearing pale blue denim cutoffs with silver and blue feathers embroidered on the front, and a flowy silver tank over teal bikini bottoms and top.. She also wore Tai's crest. Her hair fell wild down her back, along with all the other girls.

They started walking down the beach, Stella carrying a bag with everyone's bikinis. Sora and Kari carried bags containing towels and water, while Yolei, holding two bottles of some concoction of Stella's, checked her D-Terminal, and announced that the boys were on their way. "They should be parking at Stella's house and heading up in 15 minutes." she said, balancing the bottles in one arm.

"Hey! Don't drop those, they're my own special recipe." Stella said frowning. Ahead of them a large bonfire was sighted, and the sounds of Ignition by R. Kelly could be heard.

"Stells! Wassup my moon goddess?" A tall surfer with a hawaiian tribal tattoo down his arm swept Stella into a hug as she laughed. Setting her down, he turned to the other three. "And who are these Wahine?"

"Ollie, these are my friends from Japan: Sora, Kari, Mimi and Yolei. And before you try out your slick moves, they're taken. Spread the word around, especially to Zeke and Harry. I don't need jealous boyfriends and idiots messing with the party" Ollie shook the girl's hands, took the alcohol from Yolei, and guided them over to the group. People were gathered by the bonfire dancing, drinking, and there was a pop up soccer game going on.

"Yo!" Stella yelled, and in turn the crowd all paused to yell greetings back. She introduced the girls, and told everyone to keep an eye out for a group of guys including two tall blondes. Nodding, the guy in charge of music turned it back up, and the girls all grabbed drinks. Stella dragged Sora and Kari to dance while Yolie kept an eye out for Ken and the others.


End file.
